


Markjae Wonderland

by ASLOnePiece



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Red String of Fate, different scenarios, establishing markjae, markjae - Freeform, possible smuts, so cute you'll cringe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2018-10-17 04:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10586034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASLOnePiece/pseuds/ASLOnePiece
Summary: A bunch of markjae oneshots, because I'm actual markjae trash, and I need more fanfics about them.





	1. Replay

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: I saw you at the mall with your friend, and I thought you were really cute, but I was too scared to approach you, so I just hid behind my dog and watched you from afar.

Mark sighed once he exited the pet shop, a bag of newly bought dog toys in one hand and a leash in the other. He had just gone to the store to buy his dog Coco some needed chew toys, seeing as all of her old ones were worn out and couldn't be used anymore, but he found it very hard to shop when all of the female employees (and even some of the male ones) were practically breathing down his neck in hopes of getting to help him shop and maybe even get his number. Honestly though, all of his attention was being given to his precious Coco, because she was the only one that Mark was concerned about. So, after a stressful half hour, Mark was able to escape the thirsty employees and was now leisurely walking around the mall with Coco by his side. 

"Are you hungry, Coco?" Mark asked, picking up the walking fluff ball. After hearing a bark that he obviously didn't understand, he decided he would just grab food for himself and offer Coco whatever it was he ordered at the food court. 

Upon entering the fairly crowded food court, Mark could already hear whispers from the people he passed, them not-so-quietly whispering about how good-looking Mark is or how cute Coco is. He was used to something like this happening, so he just brushed it off and faced the problem at hand: what he was going to have for lunch. There were so many places he could get food at, but definitely so many that he couldn't decide what to get. 

"Fuck it. Burgers it is."

With a juicy burger and a side of fries in front of him, Mark suddenly found his appetite gone. It wasn't that he didn't want the food; it's just that he would rather have the very appealing brunette that was sitting just a few tables away from him. With a smile so bright and a laugh so loud and melodious to Mark's ears, how could he not be drawn to the stranger that he didn't even know?

The mystery boy was sitting in front of another boy, who, from where Mark was sitting, looked to be quite tall. Both boys had brown hair, but the one that caught the American's eye had a lighter shade of brown than the other one. 

Damn, Mark hoped that they weren't dating, because he'd really love to get to know that stranger. Even if they weren't, Mark knew that he probably wouldn't have the balls to go up to him and ask for his number anyway. He was fine with just watching this cutie from where he sat, even if he regrets not going up to him later on.

Mark didn't know he was staring, until he felt a nudge on his arm, startling him out of his trance. He looked down to find Coco trying to reach up to take a bite of his untouched burger, making him feel bad for momentarily forgetting about his child. He cooed at the puppy's cuteness and lifted her up into his lap. 

"Sorry, Coco," Mark apologized. 

"Here." He tore off a chunk of meat from his burger and fed it to the Maltese, who happily began to eat the patty.

Once he was sure Coco was busy eating, Mark glanced to the side to try and sneak a peek at the attractive boy. He was pleasantly surprised and a little shaken up to see that the boy was already looking at him, a small smile adorning his face.

When he realized he was caught, the boy quickly averted his attention away from Mark and looked down at his empty food tray. Mark could clearly hear the taller male laughing at his friend (which is the relationship Mark assumed the two shared) and heard when he said, "You got caught! Hahaha! You're not slick, hyung!"

"Shut up! His dog is just really cute," the flustered boy shot back, his cheeks already a deep crimson color. The mention of Coco made Mark deflate a bit, since he was really hoping that the cutie was staring at him, not his dog.

The friend's words, however, helped get Mark's spirits back up. 

"His dog isn't the only one you think is cute."

"Shh! You're too loud, Yugyeom," the stranger whisper-yelled, proving that he wasn't all that great at keeping his voice down either. How endearing, Mark thought.

"You know," Yugyeom began, leaning back in his chair, "I'm gonna go and get his number if you don't. This one is way too good to be passed up."

Mark eavesdropped on their conversation, amused at how this Yugyeom guy was teasing his hyung. He almost laughed at the faces the other was making, and he would've been the first to actually make a move now that he knew that he he had a shot if he wasn't so damn shy. He could tell that the stranger was shy as well, judging by his flustered actions and the fact that he hasn't made a move either. 

So, it was a surprise to Mark when he saw the stranger get up from his seat and start making his way towards Mark's table. He could do nothing but stare at this beautiful stranger, who looked even more attractive the closer he got. 

"Um, hi?" Mr. Stranger awkwardly waved at Mark, who said a simple "hello" back. 

"Can I.. Can I pet your dog?" 

Mark smiled at the boy, who was obviously having a hard time staying calm. His hands were clutching the ends of his sweater sleeves and his cheeks were still that same red color from before. 

He lifted Coco onto his lap and allowed the boy come closer to pet the puppy's head. The puppy instantly forgot about her food and was now relishing in the gentle touch of the foreign hand, making the stranger giggle at Coco's adorable reactions.

"She's so cute. What's her name?" The smile on the boy's face as he ran his slender fingers through the puppy's fur made Mark's heart beat faster, for he was sure he had never seen a smile like his.

"Her name is Coco," Mark finally answered, watching as Coco began to playfully bite the other's hand. 

Right when the brunette was just about to ask what kind of dog she was, a shout from a few table down caught their attention, along with the rest of the food court inhabitants. 

"I swear, Youngjae hyung, if you keep asking about the dog instead of his fine ass, I will go over there and snatch him from you." 

"Yugyeom! Oh my god!"

Mark burst into laughter at Yugyeom outburst, and he had to stop himself from laughing too much, otherwise tears would start spilling from his eyes. He didn't want to somehow upset the boy in front of him and give off a bad impression.

"I am so sorry. My friend is an idiot, so please ignore what he just said." Youngjae, as Mark found his name to be, quickly apologized to him, though there wasn't anything to apologize for. He assured him that it was alright, but that didn't stop him from apologizing once more.

"Since you want to know more about Coco, how about you give me your number and I can text you about whatever you want to know?" Mark was already taking out his phone and handing it to the frozen brunette to punch in his digits. It took a while for him to comprehend what was going on, but he was quick to take Mark's phone and give him his number. When he was done, Mark did the same with his phone.

"Great. Then I'll be expecting a text from you later tonight, yeah?" Mark was gathering his things and almost missed the way Youngjae was nodding his head.

"Perfect. It was great meeting you, Youngjae. I'm Mark, by the way."

When Mark had gone and Youngjae returned to his table, he received a slow clap from Yugyeom.

"If I could replay this scene again, I would have jumped in that trash can to hide from how awkward you were." 

"Hey," Youngjae said, slapping the male for offending him. "At least I got his number."

"Yeah, after you finished obsessing over his dog." Youngjae rolled his eyes and didn't retort back, because he knew Yugyeom was right.

_Ting! ___

__Youngjae glanced down at his phone and immediately smiled at the text he received. He maybe, possibly even blushed a little, because the contact name was typed in by Mark._ _

__**That Cute Guy with the Cute Dog ******_ _

__****_**Hey :) ** __****_ ** ** _ _


	2. They Don't Know About Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They don't know about Mark and Youngjae.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on "They Don't Know About Us" by One Direction.

They don't know about Mark and Youngjae.

They don't know about how close they've gotten since they first met.

They don't know about the underlying meaning behind the way they look at each other.

They don't know about the countless smiles that were caused by the other.

They don't know about the secret hand holding that goes on under the table, nor do they know about the sweet kisses that are stolen when nobody's looking.

They don't know about how they feel when they're being shipped with other members.

They don't know about their fights, which usually end with someone (or maybe even both of them) getting hurt. 

They don't know about the apology hugs and kisses that are responsible for patching up their quarrels.

They don't know about their tender and gentle love-making or the way they would lace their fingers together as they lulled each other to sleep with the sound of the other's breathing when their love-making came to an end.

They don't know about the quiet nights they spend together, holding each other in warm embraces, each taking comfort in the way the other was holding them.

They don't know about the deep and meaningful conversations they have when they're alone, some of which were about their future together. 

They don't know about the "forever" that they promised that one night when one of them suddenly said, "Let's get married someday."

They don't know about how close they held each other that night either. 

But most importantly...

They don't know about how much they love each other.


	3. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark has the pleasure of meeting Youngjae's five little brothers.

"Thanks for offering to help me babysit tonight," Youngjae said as he walked side by side with Mark.

"I know we were supposed to go on a date today, so I'm sorry that we have to be babysitting instead."

In response, Mark laced his fingers with Youngjae's, an action that he knew would make the heat rise to the younger's cheeks, and told him that it was perfectly okay with him. "As long as I get to spend time with you, I'll be happy."

So, that's how the couple found themselves heading to Youngjae's house to watch over his five little brothers, while his parents planned to go on a well-deserved dinner date. They were meant to go over to Mark's place to have a movie marathon, but Youngjae couldn't turn down his parents' request when he saw how happy they were that they were going on an actual date again (without the kids). For Mark, he found this as the perfect chance to finally meet his boyfriend's family, since Youngjae had already met his.

The two were now standing on the porch of a cozy-looking two-story home. Youngjae had his key in one hand, but he didn't open the door. "Okay, before we go in, I just want to tell you that my dad can be very overprotective."

Mark assured him that everything will be fine, but Youngjae still looked a little weary.

"Think of it like his daughter bringing home her new boyfriend type of scenario, and since you're my first boyfriend, you can imagine how he might act."

"Baby, please. Aside from being attractive, I happen to also be quite the gentleman," Mark said, adding a playful bow at the end. He then urged him to open the door, which Youngjae was still hesitant about, but he eventually took his key and unlocked it.

"I'm ho--!" Not even two words in, and Youngjae was already being tackle-hugged by three of the five little monsters. The force was enough for Mark to have to steady Youngjae, so that he wouldn't fall.

"Ha! I got to Youngjae hyung first!" A little boy with brown hair and big, round eyes stuck out his tongue at the other two, who looked to be a little younger than him.

"Nuh-uh, I did!" Retorted the one with the coconut hairstyle.

"We all know I'm the best, so I obviously got to him first!" Boasted the last one.

The three began to bicker with each other, all while still having some kind of grip on Youngjae. Youngjae sighed and sent Mark a "yup, this is my life" type of smile, making him quietly laugh behind him.

The slight laughter seemed to have caught the three boys' attention, because they quit their fighting and were now focused on the strange man that was standing behind their hyung.

"Who are you?"

Before Mark could reply, Youngjae's parents walked in, and they looked fancy as fuck. Mark recognized the beautiful woman in a classy black dress to be Youngjae's mom, for he had already met her once before. The man in the tux next to her was obviously his dad.

"Oh, Youngjae! Welcome home." His mother smiled at him, while she helped her husband straighten his bow tie. Then, she took notice of Mark.

"Mark, I'm glad to see you again. Are you here to help babysit?" The mention of Mark's name caused Youngjae's dad to look up and narrow his eyes to get a good look at him, making Mark feel a little uncomfortable.

"Um, yes," he replied awkwardly.

"I'm sorry for the trouble. Please, make yourself at home," she said and dropped her hands when she finished her work.

"So _you're _the one my precious son has been talking about?"__

__"It's nice to meet you, sir. I'm Mark Tuan."_ _

__Mark watched as the man walked closer to him, his eyes looking him over. When he was directly in front of him, the man stuck his hand out, and Mark firmly grasped it as they shook hands._ _

__"I hope you know that if you break Youngjae's heart, you'll be hearing it from me. Understand?"_ _

__"Honey! Don't scare him off!" She scolded._ _

__"I have to make sure that he isn't some ass that plays with people's feelings."_ _

__Mark chuckle and said, "I can promise you that I don't ever plan on hurting Youngjae."_ _

__Maybe it was the determined look in Mark's eyes, or maybe it was the way he looked at Youngjae when he said it, but the man let go of his hand and muttered, "You better keep your word."_ _

__"Hey, dad, who's that?" The coconut haired boy from before had walked up to his dad and tugged on his arm._ _

__The man sighed and glanced at the other two boys who had the same confused looks on their faces. "He's your brother's... boyfriend." The way he said the last word sounded as if he didn't want to say it all._ _

__"Ooh~" They all said at the same time, causing Youngjae to tell them to shush, his cheeks visibly heating up._ _

__"Kids, stop teasing your hyung," their mom said as she put on her heels. "Where's Jinyoung and Jaebum?"_ _

__"I think Jinyoung hyung is reading a book, while Jaebum hyung is playing video games."_ _

__"Can you call them down to meet Mark? And tell them we're about to leave," she ordered the boys, and the oldest of the three decided to go._ _

__A few seconds later, the same boy came rushing down the stairs with two more boys in tow. One had jet black hair and a book cradled under one of his arms. The other had straight black hair and was trailing behind the other two boys. When they were all assembled in the living room, Youngjae's mom brought both Mark and Youngjae before them._ _

__"Mark, meet Jaebum, Jinyoung, Jackson, Kunpimook, and Yugyeom," she said, pointing to each boy as she called their names. She informed him that Jaebum, Jinyoung, and Jackson were all around the age of 10, while the remaining two were both 7. Youngjae had once told Mark that some of the boys were adopted, hence why he wasn't surprised to see that some of them shared the same age, even though they didn't seem to be twins._ _

__"Boys, meet Mark. He's going to be helping Youngjae watch over you, so behave." The boys all greeted him, some more enthusiastically than others._ _

__After introductions and a few warnings from Youngjae's dad to Mark, the parents finally left to go have the night of their lives. Even after they left, all of them were left standing in the living room, the little ones staring up at Mark._ _

__Then, Jackson turned to the two latecomers and said excitedly, "Jaebum! Jinyoung! Dad says Mark hyung is Youngjae hyung's boyfriend. Isn't that cool?"_ _

__This new information caused Jaebum to start glaring at Mark, who could do nothing but stand frozen to his spot, letting the child just glare at him._ _

__"Youngjae, I think that one hates me," Mark whispered._ _

__The latter just rolled his eyes and told the young boy to stop giving Mark such a dirty look, which probably only fueled Jaebum to stare with an even harsher glare. Youngjae and the others boys could see the tension in the air, so Youngjae coughed to get their attentions._ _

__"Mark hyung and I are going to watch some movies down here, so you guys can just run off and do whatever you want."_ _

__"Ooh! Can we watch, too?" Kunpimook pleaded, his hands laced together as he looked up to Youngjae with puppy dog eyes._ _

__"Please hyung," Yugyeom joined him. After him, Jackson joined in as well, and even Jinyoung and Jaebum seemed a little interested in watching, too._ _

__Youngjae side glanced at Mark, silently asking if it was okay if the little ones joined them. He sighed in relief when he saw him nod, and he moved to go get snacks, while Mark began to set up the movie._ _

__"Jinyoung, can you help me with the snacks, please?" Youngjae asked the boy, who gladly followed him to the kitchen._ _

__Meanwhile, the other kids had all run to grab their pillows and blankets and whatnot. Jackson was even thoughtful enough to grab Youngjae's blanket for him. Then, they began to set up all of their stuff on the long couch in front of the tv, which would fortunately be able to squeeze in all seven of them._ _

__"I want to sit next to Mark hyung," Jackson declared, putting his blanket and stuffed Squirtle on a random spot on the couch._ _

__"Only if Yugyeom and I get to sit next to each other." Kunpimook didn't even wait for an answer, and he took it upon himself to place Yugyeom's and his belongings at the end of the couch, alongside Jackson's._ _

__Once the movie was in and playing the trailers, Mark sat down in the middle of the couch after turning off all of the lights. Jackson was a talkative one, he figured, when the young boy began to animatedly talk with Mark, asking question after question, all of which he happily answered._ _

__"Jaebum hyung, where are you going to sit?" Jackson asked after Yugyeom called him out for asking Mark too many questions._ _

__"Next to Youngjae hyung and Jinyoung," he said simply, taking a seat next to Mark, but leaving a space for Youngjae. Mark could feel the daggers being stared into him by the young boy, but he chose to try and ignore it._ _

__When the trailers were done, the screen to play the movie popped up, and that was when the door to the kitchen opened, with Youngjae and Jinyoung emerging with three bowls of buttery popcorn._ _

__"Hurry up, hyung! The movie is about to start."_ _

__"Yeah, we need our popcorn," Kunpimook deadpanned._ _

__"Glad to know you guys care about me, too."_ _

__A bowl of popcorn was handed to Kunpimook, who would be sharing with Yugyeom and Jackson, while Jinyoung had another bowl to share with Jaebum, and Youngjae shared with Mark. Now, despite how large and how filled to the brim of popcorn these bowls were, they were all empty before the movie could even reach halfway, which was fine for Mark, since he much rather preferred to be cuddling with his sunshine, and that's exactly what they did under the warmth of Youngjae's blanket throughout the rest of the movie._ _

__"Youngjae hyung, food~," the two youngest brothers plus Jackson whined to their now sleeping big brother. None of the kids had fallen asleep during the movie, but the two oldest in the household were fast asleep in each other's arms. Jackson had been the first to notice and was quick to use Youngjae's phone to take a million pictures, and yeah, they were cute and all (even Jaebum had to admit), but now the kids were hungry, and they needed someone to make them dinner._ _

__The kids tried so many times to wake Youngjae up, but they knew better than that. They knew that no matter what, Youngjae wouldn't be waking up any time soon. The one person they did manage to stir awake was Mark._ _

__"What's up, kids?" He yawned and stretched out his limbs, careful not to wake his lover up in the process. He rubbed the crust out of his eyes and focused on the kids in front of him, who all said the same word at once._ _

__"Food."_ _

__\- - - - -_ _

__"It's not much, but I promise it's the best instant ramen you'll ever eat."_ _

__After looking through all of the food he could work with, Mark had settled with making what he was probably best at, and that was making ramen. The other kids seemed to be enjoying the food, but there was one in particular who seemed to be "afraid" of the bowl of noodles and soup._ _

__"Jaebum, why aren't you eating?" Jinyoung asked worriedly. "You need to eat."_ _

__"It looks weird," Jaebum said, turning away from the bowl, his chin slightly stuck out._ _

__It wasn't that weird. It just had some cheese on top, but other than that, it was normal ramen._ _

__Mark sighed when he saw that Jaebum didn't trust the food that he made. He thought that he would at least trust him to make him food, but he supposed he was wrong. Jaebum was just a tough nut to crack, he concluded._ _

__"Is that ramen?" They all turned their heads to see Youngjae waking up from his nap, the blanket Mark put around him falling to his lap._ _

__"Come and eat, Youngjae hyung!"_ _

__"Yeah. The ramen Mark hyung made is really really good," Jackson said, his mouth full of noodles._ _

__"Don't talk with your mouth full," Youngjae scolded Jackson as he made his way to the dining table. He took a seat in between his boyfriend and Jaebum, who still refused to even look at the food._ _

__"Thank you," he thanked Mark when he served him a bowl of ramen, and he even managed to get a little peck on the nose. Little Jaebum saw the interaction and seemed to relax his shoulders, if only a little bit._ _

__When asked why he wasn't eating, Jaebum didn't respond, but Youngjae knew exactly why he hasn't touched his food._ _

__"You know," Youngjae began, taking his chopsticks and raising some noodles to his mouth. "Mark hyung makes the best ramen. You should try it." As if to emphasize his point, Youngjae hummed in delight when the food entered his mouth._ _

__"What was that?" Youngjae asked, amused at what he just heard Jaebum mumble._ _

__"I'll try it," he mumbled again._ _

__Needless to say, Jaebum ended up finishing the whole bowl, all while having the faintest of blushes on his cheeks._ _

__\- - - - -_ _

__"Did you all change into your pajamas?"_ _

__"Yes."_ _

__"Did you all brush your teeth?"_ _

__"Yes."_ _

__After making sure that everyone did their bedtime routines, they were all sent to bed. There wasn't much cleaning up to do, since everyone helped to clean up already. So, while Youngjae tucked in those who claimed they needed to be tucked in (*cough* Jackson *cough*), Mark sat patiently in Youngjae's bed, waiting so that they could fall asleep together._ _

__"Mark hyung," a high-pitched voice said from the doorway. Said male looked up and noticed two of the boys standing there, more specifically, Jinyoung and Jaebum._ _

__"Hey. Did you guys need something?"_ _

__They didn't say anything, but Jinyoung was holding Jaebum's hand and pulled him over to stand in front of Mark. For a while, neither of them spoke, for they looked like they couldn't find the words to speak._ _

__Jaebum, although barely audible, was the first one to speak. "Do you love Youngjae hyung?"_ _

__Just the sound of his name made Mark smile, and both of the youngsters could see just how in love he was with Youngjae from that simple smile._ _

__"Of course I do."_ _

__"You won't make him cry right?" Jinyoung asked, his eyebrows furrowed. "Or hurt him?"_ _

__"Never."_ _

__"Pinky promise?" Another voice asked. They all looked towards the door to find Jackson, Kunpimook, and Yugyeom peeking in from the doorway. They all had their pinkies out and were anticipating Mark's answer._ _

__Mark smiled at them all, seeing as they cared so much about Youngjae. Now it was even clearer to him that the reason why Jaebum was so hostile towards him was because he didn't want his hyung getting hurt by some guy._ _

__He gestured for them all to come to him, and when they were all gathered together, he stuck his pinkie out and locked pinkies with each and every one of them._ _

__"Pinkie promise."_ _

__"Group hug!" Jackson yelled out of nowhere and took the chance to jump on top of Mark and wrap his arms around him. Then, the others followed and practically piled on top of the poor guy, who did his best to wrap his own arms around all five of them._ _

__"Jackson, I got you that weird organic tea you asked for..." Youngjae trailed off when he walked into the room, because he was shocked and confused as to why everyone was suddenly hugging and smiling and just being buddy-buddy with each other. He was especially surprised to see that Jaebum seemed to not want to murder Mark anymore._ _

__"I don't know what's going on, but it's bedtime, so go to bed."_ _

__The kids all said their "Goodnight's" to both Mark and Youngjae, and finally left the two in peace. They didn't exactly say much after they left, but no words had to be said whenever it was just the two of them. All they needed was each other._ _

__\- - - - -_ _

__"If Mark hyung and Youngjae hyung get married, does that mean Mark hyung will be our new brother?"_ _

__Youngjae's dad began to choke on his coffee after hearing the sudden question from Jackson, and it took all of Youngjae's mother's strength to not laugh at her husband, who was literally on the brink of choking to death._ _

__"Jackson! Don't ask weird questions!" Youngjae was already flustered and trying not to freak out from the mention of marriage._ _

__"I don't know. I think it'll be great to have five little brothers."_ _

__"Mark hyung!"_ _

__"Absolutely not! I refuse to give away my son so soon!"_ _

__"Oh come on, honey. I don't think it's such a bad idea."_ _

__"Mom~!"_ _

__Family. You gotta love 'em._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry if this was trash.


	4. Whipped For The Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark is whipped for Youngjae.

Mark was sat down on the couch, his arm lazily propped up on the arm of it, and he was scrolling his social media. There was nothing really to look at, for nothing new or exciting was going on.

"Youngjae!" He heard Jackson scream.

A moment later, the said boy was seen bounding from one of the rooms and making a mad dash towards Mark. Once there, he instantly jumped into his lap and began to hide his face in his neck, causing Mark to instinctively wrap his arms around his waist, leaving his phone long forgotten.

"Youngjae!" Jackson screamed again, his voice not as loud as before but still pretty loud. He walked into the living room and stalked towards the two.

"I can't believe you broke my plant and didn't even apologize," Jackson said, his eyes narrowed at the still-hiding boy.

"But I didn't break it," Youngjae answered, his voice muffled from Mark's clothes. "It was Coco."

"But Coco's your dog, so that means you're held responsible," Jackson said, arms crossed over his chest.

"Nuh-uh, he's our dog, so we're technically all responsible here," Youngjae said. He finally lifted his head up and was now staring at Jackson, eye contact and all.

"Yeah, but you're Coco's mom, and your child broke my precious house plant."

"He's Mark's child, too."

"You were the one that was in my room when it happened."

"..."

"Hyung~" Youngjae whined in the cutest voice he could make, which was actually pretty darn adorable. He lifted his head and stared into Mark's eyes when he whined, silently pleading for help through his chocolatey orbs.

"Oh, no. Don't you dare help him out of this hyung." Jackson, from experience, knew that when Youngjae gave Mark that look, Mark would instantly side with Youngjae, even if he may be in the wrong. Jackson felt so attacked the day he learned about Mark's weakness the hard way...

Mark bit his lip as he looked from a seething Jackson and a pouting Youngjae. Either way, he would end up upsetting one of them. So really, it came down with whose moodiness he would be willing to put up with for the next couple of days.

"Mark hyung." Jackson said firmly, his gaze unwavering.

Youngjae continued to pout, and he even went the extra mile to wrap his arms securely around Mark's neck. What swayed Mark even more was when Youngjae nuzzled against his neck.

"I mean, we can't exactly control Coco..."

"Oh my god!" Jackson groaned. He then ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"At least buy me a new plant, Youngjae." He sounded desperate this time, and the younger started to feel a teensy bit guilty.

"Fine."

"Really?" Jackson asked, surprised that the he actually agreed to buying him something he claims he wasn't responsible for the destruction of. Youngjae hummed then willingly detached himself from Mark.

"In fact, I'm going to go right now."

Jackson's eyes sparkled as the younger called Coco and both set out to go shopping for plants.

"I want a huge one!" He called after them.

"Okay!"

\- - - - -

"Dude, you're so whipped," Jackson said when Youngjae left to supposedly buy him a new plant. Oh yeah. He wasn't going to let this chance to tease the oldest go by. He plopped down next to Mark and pulled out his phone.

"So what if I am?" Mark retorted back, not at all phased by the sudden accusation.

"You're not gonna deny it?"

"Why would I when I know am indeed whipped for Choi Youngjae? I'd rather admit it than lie." And it's true. Mark doesn't care what it is or when it happens; if Youngjae needs him, he'll be there. Why? Because he loves him.

"Well, alright then."

After that, the two stopped speaking and just did whatever. The only sounds in the room were the occasional tapping on someone's phone and if you listened close enough, you could probably hear Jinyoung and Jaebum making out.

"Hey," Jackson called out to Mark. "Aren't Jaebum hyung and Yugyeom whipped?"

Mark put down his phone and thought about the question. Then, his mind went back to all the times Bambam would drag Yugyeom out shopping with him and when Jinyoung would always order Jaebum do to some random stuff for him, like "controlling the kids."

"Yeah."

"Great, I'll go bug them." Jackson quickly stood up and began his journey to annoy the other members.

"Jackson, get out!" Mark heard Jaebum yell.

"Okay, but like, do you realize how whipped you are for Jinyoung?"

"Jesus--! Leave! We were in the middle of something!" 

The oldest member chuckled to himself as he listened to the trio argue. This was one way to add some excitement to his boring day.

He stopped laughing when he saw a fluffy white tail peeking out from the bathroom door. Then, an adorable otter decided to peek his head out, too.

"Is he gone?" He asked quietly. When Mark nodded, Youngjae silently cheered and went to go sit down next to him.

"You don't plan on buying Jackson a plant anytime soon, do you?" Mark ruffled the latter's hair when he shook his head.

"You're a naughty one, Choi Youngjae."

The younger stared at Mark again with those eyes that he could never resist. "You love me, right?"

Youngjae already knew the asnwer, and Mark knew as well, but they both knew what the true meaning behind those words meant.

"You want food, don't you?"

"Maybe."

Mark sighed and smiled at his lover. "Let's eat out then."

Youngjae cheered and hugged Mark, saying thank you over and over again. A little dramatic, yes, but Mark thought it was adorable. He then laughed to himself when he realized how true Jackson's words were.

Mark is whipped for Youngjae, and he wouldn't have it any other way.


	5. Step-By-Step Guide To Solving An Argument With Your S.O.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of Mark Tuan's _Guide to a Successful Relationship ___

Got into a fight with your lover? Well, here's how to solve it! 

1\. Kidnap your victim (aka your lover).

It was the near the end of fifth period, and all of the students in class were dying for the bell to signal lunch. Right now, they were being given free time, so there wasn't really anything keeping the students from lazing around and using their phones. The free time was also a source of boredom for some, just like a certain ball of sunshine, who wasn't feeling too happy-go-lucky today. It's pretty understandable, considering his boyfriend and him just had a fight not too long ago.

He had already gone most of the school day avoiding the other male, and he was hoping for the day to just be over, so that he could go home and cry into his pillow or something of that sort. Maybe he could even use his gloominess as an excuse to eat a full tub of ice cream and claim that it was to help cope with his feelings.

There was a few minutes of class left, and Youngjae wanted nothing more than to bust out of his classroom and have a sandwich. He thought that maybe he'd be able to stealthily slip past Mark and save himself from the awkwardness that was sure to come if they happened to see each other. I mean, he's been doing it since this morning, so how hard would it be to keep it up for a couple more hours?

Apparently quite difficult.

"Hyung?! What are you doing here?" Youngjae was utterly surprised and stupefied when the very person he didn't want to see burst through his classroom's door and announced that he was looking for Choi Youngjae. He glanced around the room and pointed his finger when he found his target.

"You. Me. _Now. _"__

__"What? No!" He wanted to run, he really did, but there was nowhere for him to run to. He sat at the back of the room, so if he really wanted to leave, he would either have to jump out the window (which wasn't an option, considering they were on the second floor) or sprint to the door and hope that he isn't caught._ _

__Instead of taking any action to escape, Youngjae was glued to his seat as he watched Mark stalk over to him, Mark's gaze fixated on his fidgeting form. Then, the older lifted him up and threw him over his shoulder, Youngjae's too-godly-for-this-world butt on display for everyone to see._ _

__"Hyung what are you doing?" Youngjae struggled against him, but Mark's grip was way too strong for him to be close to winning._ _

__"Sorry, Mr. Kim, but I'm going to need to steal Youngjae," Mark announced to Youngjae's English teacher._ _

__"Go right ahead."_ _

__"Mr. Kim?!"_ _

__"Class is over in 10 minutes anyway, and it's not like we're doing anything. Just don't forget that you have homework due tomorrow," he said nonchalantly as if everything that was happening was a normal occurrence._ _

__"He's _kid napping _me!"___ _

____ _ _

____2\. Find a secluded area, preferably a place where your lover can't kill you with anything in reach._ _ _ _

____Youngjae huffed when he was finally let down from atop Mark's shoulder. He crossed his arms, refusing to look at the older, and took in his surroundings. "Why are we here?"_ _ _ _

____They were in a classroom, judging by the whiteboard, the rows of desks, and all the usual educational posters that are meant to encourage students to be more academic. Whose classroom it was didn't matter. Right now, it was just Mark and Youngjae._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____3\. Apologize for whatever the fuck you did, even if you're not in the wrong._ _ _ _

____"I'm sorry."_ _ _ _

____Those two words were words that Youngjae did not want to be hearing from Mark at the moment, because he was still pissed at him. Rather than patching up their dispute, the words only made the younger of the two more frustrated with him._ _ _ _

____"Great. Can I leave now?" Before he could reach the door, Mark grabbed Youngjae, spun him around, and pinned him to the wall._ _ _ _

____"Not until you accept my apology and stop being angry with me," Mark said, his eyes pleading with Youngjae._ _ _ _

____Youngjae puffed out his cheeks and glared at him. "Mark hyung, it's not that simple."_ _ _ _

____Yeah, he was supposed to look mad and all that, but Mark couldn't help but coo in his head at how cute the younger looked when he made that face._ _ _ _

____"Can't you at least hear me out?"_ _ _ _

____"Look," Youngjae sighed, "I just don't want to talk about it right now. Not when our argument was so recent."_ _ _ _

____Mark saw how Youngjae's bright orbs dulled with the words that he said, and that's when he knew that he needed to solve the dispute between him and his sunshine, so that neither of them were miserable anymore._ _ _ _

____He took Youngjae's chin and made him look at him in the eyes._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____4\. If all else fails, kiss them. The most effective method is to apologize while showering your lover with kisses._ _ _ _

____"I'm sorry," Mark said again, but this time, he locked his lips with Youngjae's, not giving the younger a chance to argue. His lips slowly moved against Youngjae's, creating a steady rhythm, drowning any and all of whatever Youngjae wanted to say._ _ _ _

____When Mark pulled away, he brought his hands up to cup Youngjae's now flushed cheeks. "I was being an idiot, and I shouldn't have done what I did."_ _ _ _

____This time, he trailed feathery kisses going down from the younger's cheeks and all the way down to his neck. He even took it a step further and began to suck on the skin where Mark knew elicited the most sinful sounds from Youngjae, and those sounds are exactly what he got when he bit and sucked on the sweet spot._ _ _ _

____After deeming the purple mark worthy, he went back to kissing Youngjae, whose resolve to have absolutely no interaction with Mark was already obliterated. Instead, he gave himself up to Mark's sweet kisses and savored every single one of them._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____5\. If you happen to make it this far, congratulations. You can now enjoy a steamy make out session. (Might not apply if your argument was solved at step 3, but hey, that won't stop you.)_ _ _ _

____Their little "talk" ended some time near the end of lunch, and the two came out of the empty classroom looking wrecked, yet satisfied. Youngjae was teased by their group of friends for all the purple marks on his neck, but Mark was there for when the boy wanted hide his red face in his arm._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____6\. If your argument was over something stupid, laugh it off and carry on with your lives._ _ _ _

____"I'm sorry, too," Mark heard Youngjae mumble when their friends' attentions were elsewhere._ _ _ _

____He looked down at the younger and saw him playing with his sweater sleeves, his cheeks still flushed and his eyes not looking directly at him._ _ _ _

_____'This boy really is too adorable for his own good.' ____ _ _ _

______"I shouldn't have yelled at you." Youngjae sounded plain sad, and Mark couldn't help but wrap an arm around his shoulders and kiss the top of the younger's head._ _ _ _ _ _

______"It's not your fault. I was the one who cheated in the game."_ _ _ _ _ _

______Youngjae let his head rest on Mark's shoulder, and Mark took it upon himself to play with Youngjae's finger's. Even with all the noise around them, the two relished in the comforting silence between._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Did we really fight over a game?" Youngjae asked, chuckling to himself. Mark began to laugh as well, saying, "We did."_ _ _ _ _ _

______The two broke out in hysterics, causing their friends to look at them funny, but they didn't mind. Not when they were busy laughing at themselves for having an argument over something petty._ _ _ _ _ _

______"We're such idiots, hyung." Youngjae had to stop laughing for a second to throw a tater tot at Jackson, who had piped in with, "You only noticed now?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______Mark rolled his eyes and kissed Youngjae (for the thousandth time today) on the cheek._ _ _ _ _ _

______"But we love each other, and that's all that matters."_ _ _ _ _ _


	6. Shh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark and Youngjae's sexy time gets interrupted, but they don't plan on stopping any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write smut, so I'm sorry in advance. Enjoy anyway!

The TV was on in the living room with an old rerun of some drama playing, but neither of the two people there were watching. Instead, their attention was focused more on the steamy make out session that had begun halfway through the episode.

"Hyung, wait," Youngjae said breathlessly as he disconnected their lips. Their little session was getting a little too hot, and Youngjae had to stop it when he felt Mark's hands begin to roam under the fabric of his shirt. "We can't do it here."

"Why not?" The older hadn't completely stopped trying to advance and was now kissing along Youngjae's jaw.

"Because we'll get caught," he tried to reason, but he knew better than that. He knew that Mark was a stubborn one. If he wanted to have sex on the couch, he'll do everything to make sure it happens.

"No one's home," Mark shot back, a smirk taking place when he finally elicited a moan from the younger by palming his growing bulge. Encouraged by the positive reaction, the older began to grind against his ass, which was easy, since Youngjae was already straddling him.

Mark could feel Youngjae's erection in his hand as he palmed him, and he knew he wanted this as much as he did. So, he let go and instead used his free hand to pull him into another deep kiss. Then, Mark's hand traveled lower until he reach the latter's shorts. He patted his bum and waited for Youngjae to lift it up, so that he could slide his shorts down, revealing his hardened dick. Just the sight of it made Mark shiver in excitement, and he hastily slid down his own shorts and boxers.

As their tongues played a game for dominance, Youngjae's hands went to tangle themselves in Mark's soft locks, making the older moan into the kiss when he tugged on them.

Mark let his hand go to cup Youngjae's butt, before he slowly eased in a single finger into his hole and then a second one. His skilled fingers that knew Youngjae's butt better than anyone began to thrust in and out of him at a slow pace. Every now and then, Mark would also stretch his fingers in a scissor-like motion to try and get Youngjae prepared for the real thing.

"What happened to not wanting to do it on the couch?" Mark asked, an amused tone in his voice, when his lover pulled away from their kiss to catch his breath and moan out. Both of their breaths had become shallow and breathing suddenly became a hindrance to their fun.

"Shut up and fuck me already," Youngjae boldly demanded, his eyes now hooded and darkened with lust. He didn't care if Mark didn't even get three fingers in. He just wanted his dick inside of him.

Adhering to his wishes, Mark pulled his fingers out of Youngjae and helped him lift himself at the tip of his erection. Slowly, he let Youngjae lower himself on to him. He winced slightly at first contact, but pushed on until he was as far as he could go.

It only took a few minutes for Youngjae to get adjusted to Mark's length, and Mark was soon thrusting his hips repeatedly into Youngjae. Both of their bodies felt like they were on fire, and it only intensified when Mark's thrusts became quicker and sloppier.

The moment Mark whispered, "I'm close," was when they both heard it, the door unlocking and the familiar voices outside. The others were home.

Unlike Youngjae, who was panicking and trying to separate himself from Mark, Mark was surprisingly calm. He gently grabbed Youngjae by the shoulders and told him that everything would be fine. When asked how when they were about to be caught in the act, the latter simply grabbed the conveniently placed blanket near them and strategically covered them, so that their naked body parts were hidden under it.

The door to the dorm opened just as they finished covering up, and the others all filed into the room, bags of delicious-smelling food in their possession.

"We're finally home," Bambam groaned exasperatedly, slipping off his designer shoes. "We spent half an hour just waiting in line. This food better be good."

"Oh, hey Mark hyung, Youngjae hyung," he greeted once he saw the two, not at all phased by their odd position.

"Ugh. Please tell me you two weren't just making out." Jackson was the next person to come in and he made a disgusted face upon seeing the two. They just awkwardly laughed and pretended that, that was, in fact, the case.

"Well, when you two are done sucking each other's faces, come join us for dinner."

When the others were distracted with setting up the table, Mark began to move his hips again, except this time, he started to lift Youngjae's body in time with his thrusts. At this point, Youngjae's body was more than on fire, and he desperately wanted to let his voice out, but he knew he couldn't.

Yougjae's arms were trembling, while he tried to keep himself upright as Mark's hands were lifting him up and down ever so slightly on his dick, because if he went too fast, the others would surely find out what the two were doing. God, the thought of risking being caught by the others, who were just a few feet away might I add, was just so exhilarating, and they both got even harder than they already were, if that was even possible.

"Shh, baby. You don't want to get caught, do you?"

The younger of the two had to bite his lip to keep the moans from escaping his mouth. Mark had brushed right up against his prostate, and he oh so badly wanted him to pick up the pace.

It went on like this, Mark thrusting into Youngjae and them having to suppress any and all sounds that wanted to escape their mouths. Well, that is until Youngjae couldn't feel the sensational movement of Mark sliding in and out of him anymore.

Youngjae looked at Mark, who had abruptly stopped his movements. The older brought his mouth closer to Youngjae's ear and took a gentle hold of the lobe by his teeth.

"Bounce," he whispered to him, his breaths coming out in quiet pants.

Youngjae was too far gone to think twice about acting, so he slowly began to bounce himself up and down on Mark. With each time Youngjae came down, Mark would meet him with a perfectly timed thrust up.

"What are you doing?"

Both of them froze in their spots as Yugyeom walked over behind them and gave them a confused look.

From under the blanket, Mark's hands were quick to tighten the blanket that was keeping their sinful actions from being seen by the others. Then, he gave the maknae the calmest small he could manage.

"Nothing. Just watching some random drama," Mark said, his voice, thankfully, not coming off as suspicious to Yugyeom.

"I know that, but why is Youngjae hyung bouncing so much? And how can he even watch when he's facing you?"

_'Why do ask so many questions?' ___

__"I'm just trying to get comfortable in Mark hyung's lap, but I just can't seem to find the best spot." As Youngjae said this, he bounced and squirmed even more, well aware that the movements were pushing the older closer to his release. He thought that maybe he can play around with his boyfriend, even if it's just for a bit._ _

__"Besides, I'm not that interested in watching anyway--" Youngjae's words got caught in his throat when he felt a hand squeeze his hardened dick. When he glanced down at Mark, he could see the mischief in his eyes, and he knew this was his revenge._ _

__"You okay there?" Yugyeom asked, his eyebrows raised at the two._ _

__"Y-Yeah." Youngjae cursed under his breath when his voice came out strained. In his defense, it's not exactly a walk in the park trying to hold a casual conversation with someone while your boyfriend is giving you a hand job, and a pretty damn good one at that._ _

__Luckily for them, Yugyeom gave up trying to converse with the "two weirdos" and decided to go rejoin the others._ _

__"I hate you," Youngjae muttered when Yugyeom was at a safe distance away. He nearly came in Mark's hand, and the other had the audacity to stop right before that blissful moment could take place. In response, the older gave one last teasing squeeze to his dick and pulled away, but not before saying, "You started it."_ _

__Their teasing didn't last long, and they were soon back to the usual routine with their climaxes closer than ever._ _

__"You guys better hurry up before we eat all the food." It was Jaebum this time. He was sitting at the table next to Jinyoung, and he was trying his best to keep the two youngest from taking Mark and Youngjae's portions._ _

__"It's f-fine, hyung. We're not that h-hungry," Youngjae said, stuttering. "Go ahead."_ _

__Whoops came from Yugyeom and Bambam, and they began calling out dibs on the food. Jaebum narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the two on the couch, trying to figure out why they were acting so strange, but he was pulled away from the two when he caught Jackson trying to take some of his chicken._ _

__"Fuck!" Mark screamed without thinking, the sound coming out almost as a moan. He had just been silently thrusting into his boyfriend for the past ten minutes, but the second he reached his climax, he was already off and voicing his pleasure. But of course, his scream also came with bewildered looks from the still oblivious members. He only realized that he caught their attention when Jackson asked with a muddled tone, "You good, dude?"_ _

__For the first time since the danger of being caught was present, Mark panicked as he tried to find an excuse. He glanced up at Youngjae, who wore a somewhat mocking expression, almost as if he was glad that Mark was finally choked up. He'd definitely get him back later, but now, he just needed some way to divert the unwanted attention from them._ _

__"Yeah, I'm good," Mark said, his nerves not at all present in his voice. "I'm just really bummed that the second lead didn't get the girl."_ _

__If Mark could, he would pat himself on the back, because not only did the others shrug off their weird behavior again, he was also proud of himself for actually remembering what was going on in the drama enough to come up with a believable excuse._ _

__"Good job," Youngjae praised, his lips coming down to kiss Mark on the cheek._ _

__"Baby, you'll be doing more than giving me praises once I'm done with you."_ _

__It seemed as though Mark's claim would soon prove to be true. Soon after he had thrust himself deep onto Youngjae's holy ass, each time hitting his prostate, the younger was biting back the scream he wanted to let out as began to spill his juices all over the two of them. Mark, who was going to have none of that, took a hold on his dick and practically squeezed the white substance out of him, bringing even more pleasure to Youngjae._ _

__"Oh my god!" He eventually moaned out, his shame being thrown out the window as he focused solely on riding out his climax to the fullest. Mark smirked up at him, having reached his goal, and took pleasure in the lewd facial expressions Youngjae was making._ _

__None of the others seemed to notice, for whatever reason, and the two were just glad that they didn't have to cough up another lame excuse. So, for a while, they just sat there with Youngjae leaning into Mark embrace, while they waited until their breathing was back to normal. The only other sounds in the room were everyone else's chopsticks clinking against the plates and quiet chatter between them._ _

__Just as Mark was starting to feel the after effects of their sex , Youngjae had begun to move again, his hands getting very playful._ _

__"How about we move this to our room, hm?" Mark hummed and waited for him to continue, already interested in a second round._ _

__"I want to scream your name, while you fuck me, and I , especially, want you to praise me for being the good boy I am as I repay you for the amazing hand job earlier."_ _

__That was all it took for Mark to have to pull out of him and sloppily dress the both of them, so that they could prepare to slip past the others. Without so much as a simple, "Good night," the couple was out of the living room and already sucking each other's faces the second they closed their door._ _

__"So," began Bambam, who had a piece of half-eaten chicken in his hand. "Are we just going to ignore the fact that Youngjae hyung and Mark hyung were just having sex on our couch or...?"_ _

__"Are you kidding me? I couldn't even finish my soup, because the white color and their noises were weirding me out." Yugyeom glanced at his unfinished soup and pulled a face at it._ _

__"My precious sons are growing up to be as kinky as their mom and dad," Jinyoung said, pleased. He even had to wipe away an imaginary tear to exaggerate how proud he was._ _

__"I guess now I have to have the talk with them about being safe while at the same time, exploring the world of kinks," Jaebum said, sighing over how awkward he knows it will be when he actually does it._ _

__"Wait." Jackson, who was sitting there, eyes wide and his mouth covered with a little bit of chicken, looked at each of them, very confused as to what was going on._ _

__"What? Youngjae and Mark hyung did _that _?"___ _

____Bambam rolled his eyes at his clueless hyung. "How could you _not _notice? The room smelled like sex when we walked in and the way they were acting and even their goddamned moans were evidence."___ _ _ _

______"They're even fucking at this very moment."_ _ _ _ _ _

______As if to on cue, Youngjae's loud scream of Mark's name came from their room, along with the faint sound of the bed creaking._ _ _ _ _ _

______The mortified look on Jackson's face was priceless. He wouldn't be able to look at Mark or Youngjae in the eyes for the next few days. But most importantly, he would never be able to look at the couch in the same way ever again._ _ _ _ _ _


	7. Kahoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> High school teachers AU
> 
> A love story of two teachers, whose love is built on the game of Kahoot.

Mark sighed once he had escorted another teacher out of his classroom.

"That's the second teacher that told us to quiet down today. The next one that comes in will have to face a very lengthy lecture from me." He sat back at his desk, opening his laptop back to the previous window.

"It's not my fault that Kahoot is such a competitive game that calls for screaming at your competitors, aka everyone else."

The students laughed at their distressed teacher as they signed in for another game, the topic being Calculus. It may not sound very fun, but the reality of it all is that when you make learning a game, people will naturally want to compete to be the best in order to win. So, this was technically a method of teaching. No problems here.

A few minutes into the game and the students are back to yelling at each other and shouting out random answers to mess up everyone else.

"Green!"

"Shut up! The the Pythagorean theorem isn't made for circles!"

"I want to see how many people actually fall for it."

"As if anyone would be dumb enough to pick circles."

A minute passed, and everyone had input their answer to the simple question of "What geometrical shape uses the Pythagorean theorem to find the side lengths?"

"Alright, who chose green?"

Mark sat back in his swivel chair, laughing at his students, who were bickering about the answers. This is what he loved seeing; students having fun while learning. He just wished his teachers tried to make an effort to make learning fun when he was high school.

Just as he was about to start a new game, there was a knock on his  door.

"Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, but my students are taking a test next door. Can you please quiet down?"

This was it. This was the third teacher who had come in here, and now Mark had an excuse to lecture an unsuspecting colleague of his.

"Now, listen here--" Just as Mark was about to go off on the teacher, he paused midway as his eyes met Choi Youngjae's, the insanely attractive chemistry teacher across from his classroom, who he may or may not have been crushing on for the past couple of years.

"Of course," he found himself automatically saying, throwing in an awkward smile, which the latter returned with his brighter-than-the-sun smile.

"Thank you so much! Sorry again for interrupting your lesson." If you looked close enough, you could probably see the faintest of blushes on the chemistry teacher's cheeks, something that the sharp, onlooking students picked up on.

"Anything for you, sunshine-- I mean Youngjae! Hahaha..."

Mark wanted to die. He wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. He wanted to fucking jump out the window and run into the traffic outside. _'Anything for you, sunshine?' Why must I be like this? _Mark asked himself.__

__Despite how embarrassing it might've sounded, Mark's self reflection time stopped when Youngjae giggled and said that he loved the nickname. His heart even did back flips when he suggested they go out for lunch together._ _

__"Great! It's a date then."_ _

__Scratch that about Mark wanting to die. He now had a date with Choi Youngjae, and he didn't even know how it happened, but it did, and now he had to stop himself from doing victory backflips in the middle of class._ _

__He was so happy that he almost missed when Youngjae said that he had to get back to his own classroom and bid Mark and his class goodbye, but really, how could anyone miss anything that he says? They said their final goodbyes to him, and the students were left with their Calculus teacher staring dreamily at the door with hearts in his eyes._ _

__"Mr. Tuan, what happened to that lecture you were so fired up to give?"_ _

__The question brought Mark back to earth, and he couldn't help the heat rising to his cheeks. His students were all looking at him, some muttering about how cute the interaction between him and Youngjae was and some snickering at how love struck he is._ _

__"It vanished, just like his dignity," joked a kid in the back, causing the rest of the class to burst in to giggles and laughter._ _

__At this point, Mark didn't even care anymore. His date with Youngjae was his motivation to power through the teasing from his students. "I'll let that slide, since you're actually right."_ _

__"Now," Mark began, gaining the attention of the students, "who's ready for another round of Kahoot?"_ _

__

__**Bonus ******_ _

__****"You know, Mr. Tuan, I'm starting to think that you're doing this on purpose."** ** _ _

__****Youngjae was leaning against the door of Mark's classroom, his arms crossed as he stared down the math teacher, who was sitting at his desk with the cheekiest smile in existence.** ** _ _

__****"What ever do you mean? I don't think I've done anything wrong, have I?"** ** _ _

__****"So you're saying that you _don't _purposely play Kahoot with your kids every time my kids are either taking a test or quiz just so I can come over and tell you to lower your volume?"__** ** _ _

__****__"Well, I'm not going to deny that I do. I mean, is it so wrong that I want to see your beautiful face more times in the day?" And there Mark goes again with his charming smile and flirtatious words. He sure has gotten bold ever since the younger of the two had accepted his confession._ _ ** ** _ _

__****__Youngjae rolled his eyes at the man's words as a smile made its way onto his face. "As much as I love seeing you, I also care about my students being able to focus on their tests, so please do lower your noise level."_ _ ** ** _ _

__****__"Sure thing, Mr. Choi. It won't happen again...today."_ _ ** ** _ _

__****__The students watched the two teachers converse a little more. A few of the girls and guys were moaning about how they wished they had a relationship like theirs, the others were thinking of ways to tease their teacher. The rest of the class could care less and were glad that they didn't have to do any work._ _ ** ** _ _

__****__"Forget about a love story revolving around werewolves and sparkly vampires. Get this love story revolving around Kahoot and high school teachers in the theaters right now."_ _ ** ** _ _


	8. I Don't Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You make it kinda hard not to stare."

Mark had a habit of staring at Youngjae whenever he had the opportunity to do so.

It didn't matter what Youngjae would be doing, if Mark could, he would watch him all day. Youngjae could literally just be standing and not doing anything at all, but Mark would still stare at him as if he were the most interesting thing in the world.

Now, with someone staring holes into your entirety every chance they get, it's only natural that Youngjae soon caught onto his boyfriend's cute yet slightly creepy habit. It's not that he minded that much when Mark would look at him with adoring eyes when he thought he wasn't looking; hell, he does it, too. He just thought that it was odd that someone found him to be worthy enough to stare at all day. Either way, Youngjae was just glad that it was Mark staring instead of some random creep.

It was one of those peaceful evenings where the couple was spooning in bed, just on the verge of falling into deep slumbers, after a lazy day of watching movies all night on the sofa when Youngjae felt it again. With Mark's arm draped loosely across his waist, Youngjae could also feel the elder's eyes boring holes into the back of his head. Any other night, he wouldn't have minded the intense stare, but tonight, Youngjae's curiosity was at its peak.

"Mark hyung," Youngjae said, turning over to face the older boy. He looked up at him, who was unsurprisingly already looking right back. "Why are you always staring at me?"

It had been a question Youngjae had been dying to ask ever since he found out about Mark's excessive staring. At first, he thought it was because Mark was starting to regret moving in with him, which he concluded was highly unlikely, considering the fact that Mark always showered him in love and affection.

So, why?

Mark stayed silent, for he, too, didn't know why he enjoyed gazing upon the younger. He studied his face for an answer, but no matter how beautiful the boy next to him was, he knew that it wasn't particularly his face that caught his attention. Even his endearing laughter and his bright smile weren't the specific reason as to what caused such a habit.

Then, his eyes began to travel farther down. He loved how Youngjae's body looked and how perfectly it seemed to fit together with his whenever they cuddled, but again, it wasn't why his eyes were always drawn to him.

Mark began to trace his fingers gently along Youngjae's arms until they somehow ended up caressing his cheeks. He rubbed his thumb along the soft skin and contemplated if it was his skin.

It most definitely was not.

Mark sighed and pulled the boy closer to him, so that Youngjae's head was resting comfortably against his chest. Mark planted a gently kiss on the top of his head and rubbed his hand along his back in a soothing manner. Mark knew that Youngjae was close to falling asleep at this point, but he didn't want to leave his question unanswered.

"I don't know," he whispered into the silent air of the evening. He stopped, trying to put together his feelings into words. He loved so many things about Youngjae, more than he can count, yet he didn't know exactly why he developed his staring habit.

Even now, in this moment in time, where the two are happily snuggled against one another, Mark still couldn't pinpoint one specific reason as to why he loved staring at the ethereal boy next to him.

All he knows is that,

"I just really love _**you ** _."_****_


	9. How I Met Your Father

"Dad, how did you meet Papa?"

Mark and Youngjae began to choke on their dinner, and two kids across from them began to freak out and scrambled to get them some water. Once the refreshing liquid was downed, the parents took the time to calm their racing hearts and share a nervous look with each other.

"Um, it's a really boring story, so I don't think it's a good idea to tell it now," Mark said, trying to avoid the topic as much as possible.

"We've got time, and Uncle Jackson gave us candy, so we're pretty hyped up right now." Bambam, their oldest son, let out a squeal of pain when his younger brother elbowed him in stomach.

"We weren't supposed to tell them that! Uncle Jackson made us promise!" Yugyeom said in a not so hushed whisper.

When he realized his mistake, Bambam's eyes widened, and he began to make up excuses and deny consuming anything that Jackson gave them when their parents weren't looking. Mark and Youngjae merely laughed at his attempt to lie his way out of trouble and decided to just let the two off the hook this time.

"So, you're not mad?" Yugyeom asked quietly, his big doe-like eyes staring up at his two dads. He was always the more obedient of the two boys, and he was the one who scolded Bambam whenever the older would do something that might upset their parents. Naturally, little Yugyeom was also the one who would feel the worst whenever he was scolded, sometimes even crying.

"Of course not," Youngjae confirmed, reaching over the table to pinch Yugyeom's and Bambam's cheeks.

"The only one who's going to get a scolding is your naughty Uncle Jackson." The kids giggled and cutely whined for him to stop when Youngjae began to squish their faces together. To the side, Mark was left smiling as he watched his husband and children laughing and playing.

"Since you're not mad, can you please tell us how you and Dad met?"

"Yeah! Please, please, _please _?"__

__The two boys had their hands clasped together, their eyes gleaming with hope._ _

__Mark sighed and gave a look to Youngjae, who looked defeated when he gave him an affirmative nod._ _

__Mark turned to face the kids with a trouble face and took a deep breath before speaking._ _

__"Your Papa and I first met when we were in college. I was in my third year, while your Papa was in his first." Mark's eyes were glued to Youngjae's as he began their story, and a silent signal was sent for the latter to continue on._ _

__"We never had any classes together, so we never saw each other around the campus. I've never even heard of your Dad's name before! But, we both knew your Uncle Jackson. He was a really friendly person, and he easily made friends with almost everyone he met."_ _

__Bambam and Yugyeom awed at their uncle's friend-making ability, then turned their attention to Mark, who stared talking again._ _

__"I used to be a lonely person, always studying and playing video games, and Uncle Jackson got frustrated with me not having a girlfriend or boyfriend. So, one day, he told that he set me up to meet with someone."_ _

__"And that someone was Papa, right?!" Yugyeom inquired excitedly, barely keeping himself still in his seat._ _

__"That's right. At first, I didn't want to go, because I thought it would be a waste of time. Boy, was I wrong."_ _

__"We were going to meet at this little cafe, and your Papa was running late. He made me wait for over an hour."_ _

__Mark paused, loving the cute little glare Youngjae shot at him._ _

__"I thought he didn't want to go on our date, so I got up to leave."_ _

__"Nooo!" Bambam cried._ _

__"You didn't really leave, right?"_ _

__Mark ruffled their hair at their cuteness. Seriously, it was as if they thought that they would never meet._ _

__"I couldn't exactly leave when your Papa's body was slamming into mine the second I opened the door."_ _

__"Don't tease me, hyung. It's not my fault that I was running a little late."_ _

__"A little?"_ _

__Youngjae rolled his eyes. "Just get on with the story. I want to know what happened next."_ _

__Mark's eyebrows raised at his statement. Then, he smirked._ _

__"Why don't you continue the story, honey? I'm sure you remember what happened next much better than I do."_ _

__Youngjae stiffened at his words, and he honestly didn't want to continue the story, but he also didn't want to let his kids down, especially when they were looking at him with those eyes._ _

__"We both were on the ground before either of us could react, and I was the first one to apologize. I was already late to my date, and I felt even worse when I bumped into a stranger. Luckily for me, the person I bumped into was really sweet and even offered his hand to me to help me off of the floor. I was grateful for his kindness, and just when I was going to thank him, I lost my words completely."_ _

__Youngjae stopped abruptly, his own voice not finding the words to continue when he met eyes with Mark. He only managed to snap out of it when Bambam asked what happened next. Mark didn't let him talk though, since he was already narrating what happened after that._ _

__"The stranger and I looked into each other's eyes, and I swear, he had the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen," Mark said breathlessly, his eyes still locked with Youngjae's. They were in their own little world at this point, and the words of their love story seemed to automatically flow out of his mouth now._ _

__"We stayed there, our hands still grasped and eyes boring into the other's and just admiring the person in front of us. We didn't say anything at first, afraid to break the atmosphere we had going on. Your Papa, after a while of just staring, suddenly began to smile at me, and at that moment when I decided to smile right back,"_ _

___**"I knew I was in love."** _ _ _

__Their voices meshed together as they whispered the final words. Not once during that entire telling of when they first met eyes did they ever break eye contact, and they both found themselves falling for the other all over again._ _

__The kids, although young, could see the love that their parents shared for each other. In their eyes, it was magical. It was pure. It was true._ _

__An involuntary yawn escaping Yugyeom was what seemed to break the spell that Mark and Youngjae were entranced in, and they were back to reality._ _

__"Alright kids, bedtime!" Youngjae announced, already lifting Yugyeom into his arms._ _

__"But--"_ _

__"But nothing, young man. If you still want to go to the water park tomorrow with Uncle Seokjin, Uncle Namjoon, and their kids, then you have to be a good boy and go to sleep." Mark put out a pretty good argument, considering the Thai boy no longer tried to protest and just let his dad carry him._ _

__Once the kids were in bed, and the kitchen was all cleaned up, Mark and Youngjae were finally able to relax._ _

__With Youngjae's head resting on Mark's chest and Mark running his fingers through his lover's hair, the two were left to their own thoughts in the peaceful silent of the night._ _

__Just when Mark thought he was falling asleep, Youngjae called his name and waited until he was looking down at him._ _

__When he was sure that Mark was listening, Youngjae finally said what had been running around his mind ever since dinner._ _

__"We're never telling them that we met at a gay brothel, and the reason why we met in the first place is because you heard I was a pro at sucking dick and decided to buy me for a night, are we?"_ _

__"Nope."_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There might be a prequel as to how Mark and Youngjae actually met, so stay tuned for that! But like, do you guys want it? Let me know! Also, feedback is very helpful. :)


	10. Of Red Strings And A Wedding

The red strings of fate, do you know about them? 

According to Japanese legend, it is said that a red string is tied to the small finger and connects two people who are destined to be lovers, no matter the time, place, or circumstance. It's a beautiful legend that can make people's hearts flutter just by the mention of it. 

Have you ever seen these mythical strings before? 

If you're like Choi Youngjae, then I suppose you never stop seeing them. You see, he's one of those rare people who can actually see the strings. Everywhere he looks, there'll be at least a few strings laying around, connecting those to their lovers. Some are tangled, some are stretched, but none ever seem to be broken. 

Youngjae isn't the only one with this ability, for there are very few others who have this, too. Along with being able to see these red strings, there are various things that they are able to do as well. People with the ability to see them can further manipulate others' strings. For instance, they can create more tangles, stretch the strings out even more, break the strings, or even tie them together.

You can imagine what kind of power these people have, and depending on the people, they'll either let the strings do their jobs or they'll bring chaos to destined lovers. Unfortunately, there are people out there in the world, who actually seek to create this disorder in the world by cutting strings and connecting them to other random people. What they're essentially doing is preventing those from being with the lover that the gods themselves chose for them and haphazardly changing their destinies to be with people that they are not supposed to be with. 

This is the hideous reality of how some use the power. 

Now, these chosen ones don't exactly have the ultimate capability of playing cupid or anti-cupid for everyone. The only string that they absolutely can not alter is their own string, which also spills into them not being able to alter their destined lover's string as well, since they are connected to the same one.

It's a fair trade for being able to change others' fates, right? At least this way, they're not cutting their string to match themselves up with whoever they want. 

Youngjae, who was mentioned to have this special ability, doesn't care about any of this, because he's a apart of an even rarer group of people, who don't seek to create any kind mayhem in the world. In his eyes, he believes that people's destinies shouldn't be toyed with and that there's a reason why certain people are meant to be together. 

The only good thing that comes out of having the ability for Youngjae is being able to see where the strings lead to. He loves watching people and being able to witness when the strings are shortened to the point where the people on the opposite ends are practically standing in front of each other. He loves seeing the lovers smiling at each other, as if they already knew that they were their destined partner, and he especially loves when the string matches up with their assumption. 

There were definitely times when Youngjae would think about getting people together, but he would always deny the desire, for he knew that it was straight out wrong to dictate who a person should be with. This is the belief that Youngjae had always stuck to for all his of life, and he didn't ever plan on changing that.

Not even when his best friend came running to him to ask that he cut his string.

"Youngjae, please," Mark begged him, his hand grasping Youngjae's. Mark's current lover, Jinyoung, was standing next to Mark with one hand holding Mark's other hand and seemed to be pleading for the same thing with his eyes.

Youngjae could only stare at the two in front of him, his eyebrows furrowing and his palms getting sweatier by the second. They were all at the cathedral for Jinyoung's marriage to someone his parents had arranged for him, and minutes before the wedding ceremony could begin, Mark had brought the both of them to Youngjae, so that he could cut both of their strings and tie them together. It was a request that Mark had always asked of Youngjae ever since he came to the conclusion that Jinyoung was for sure the only one for him, but as you all know, Youngjae's morals wouldn't allow himself to do it, even for a best friend. 

"Mark hyung, you know I can't." 

"I know you're against touching other people's strings, and I know that asking you to go against your beliefs makes me a terrible best friend, but I'm begging you. Please, cut our strings, so that we can be together."

"I-I can't...," Youngjae denied softly, letting go of Mark's hand. 

"But why? It's just cutting two strings and tying them together. Can't you--"

"No!" Youngjae snapped, catching Mark off guard. "No, I can't change who you're meant to be with, Mark hyung. I can't play with people's destinies like that. I can't cut the very string that leads to _your_ true lover."

"That's the point! I don't want some silly red string telling me who I'm supposed to love!" 

Ouch. That's quite the hit to someone like Youngjae, who is a full believer of the string of fate. 

"If you think it's silly, then why the hell are you so bent on getting me to cut yours? I already told you that I can't cut the strings, so just accept it! Why don't you just run off and take Jinyoung hyung with you, huh?" Youngjae's fists were clenched, and it was taking all of him to keep himself from storming off. Even if his clenched fists expressed anger, Youngjae's eyes were expressing an entirely different emotion. Sadness? Hurt? Both?

"Because if you can't bind our destinies together, then I swore that I would go through with the marriage."

Jinyoung's composed voice startled Youngjae. He had forgotten that Jinyoung was right in front of him the whole time. Just looking at the handsome man in front of him and his strained smile made Youngjae's chest feel tight. 

"If you really can't, then I understand, Youngjae-ah. I won't force you to do something that you don't want to."

"Wait, Jinyoung. We still have some time. We can always just run away or...or." Mark was shushed with a kiss on the forehead from the Jinyoung, who only smiled sadly at him.

"I'm sorry, Mark. I guess it's my destiny to do this," Jinyoung chuckled. The dry joke did nothing but cause tears to start to form in Mark's eyes, and Youngjae could do nothing but look away.

"Hey, don't cry." Jinyoung reached over to wipe the tear that escaped and slid down Mark's cheek. 

"Your lover is out there, you know. Go find him. Forget about me, and be happy with whoever he may be. You never know; he may be the love of your life."

Mark couldn't object to anything Jinyoung was telling him, since his choked sobs were the only sounds that he could manage at the moment. 

The sight of his best friend crying triggered something in Youngjae, and he began to cry, too. He couldn't help but feel guilty for all of this, but he couldn't do anything about it, and that's what really got to him, the fact that he really couldn't do anything to prevent any of this.

With the help of Jinyoung's comfort, Mark's sobbing deduced to quiet sniffling. "Tell me if he breaks your heart, okay?" 

Jinyoung wiped a tear of his own as he gave Mark one of his brightest smiles. "I will." 

Mark left after that, claiming that although he would try to be happy for Jinyoung, he did not want to see him get married off to some stranger. He even jokingly said that he'd much rather be crying into his pillow, which probably wasn't a joke, now that Jinyoung and Youngjae think about.

"I'm sorry, Jinyoung hyung," Youngjae said after a moment of silence between the two.

"Don't be sorry, Youngjae-ah. It was wrong of us to ask you something like that in the first place. I'm sure Mark feels the same way and will be begging for your forgiveness soon."

"You think so?"

"Positive."

Soon, one of the wedding coordinators was rushing to Jinyoung's side and telling him that the ceremony was just about to start. He politely told her that he'd be there, and she left in a hurry to get everyone else in place.

"Before I go, can you confirm something for me, Youngjae-ah?"

Jinyoung pointed to the name printed on the sign, Im Jaebum, and proceeded to ask, "My fiancé, does my string lead to him?"

Youngjae glanced down at Jinyoung's red string and allowed his eyes to follow where it went. He took a few steps towards the cathedral doors and peeked his head inside. His eyes followed the string until it ended with it being tied to the pinkie finger of the man, who was standing next to the priest and looking like a nervous wreck. From where he was, Youngjae could make out the man asking the others beside him if he looked good and if his breath smelled okay.

Youngjae smiled then as he realized that the two really were destined lovers, and that smile was all Jinyoung needed as his answer. 

"Your lover on the other end of the red string," Jinyoung started suddenly, quickly grabbing Youngjae's attention. "You've already found him, haven't you?"

The question itself made the blood go to Youngjae's cheeks and ears, and he managed to stumble back a few steps, almost tripping if it hadn't been for Jinyoung catching and steadying him. His flustered state made Jinyoung chuckle.

Youngjae opened his mouth to reply, but no words wanted to come out at the moment. 

"It all makes sense now. With the way you look at him, I'm surprised he hasn't figured it out yet." 

Youngjae hung his head at his words, the shame of being found out resting on his shoulders. Jinyoung ruffled his hair and lifted his head by the chin to look at him. 

"Take care of him for me."

Without another word or any chance for Youngjae to say anything back, Jinyoung threw open the double doors and began to walk down the aisle that led to his lover. Youngjae was left speechless as he watched Jinyoung's retreating figure. 

How did he know? 

Even if Jinyoung found out about who he loved, he wouldn't be able to tell that it was the destined lover on the other end. 

There was no way he could've guessed who the destined one was, unless--

Oh, right.

Jinyoung must've known about _it_.

He must've known that _**Youngjae can't cut his own string**_.


	11. Fluffy Drabbles For The Soul

Mark and Youngjae stood standing in front of each other, one with their arms crossed over their chest and the other pouting up at the latter.

"You are allergic to dogs. Do not kidnap something you are allergic to, no matter how fluffy."

"But it was so cute!" Youngjae whined, his eyes glued to the animal shelter, where they had dropped off the kidnapped pup.

"Besides, it was just wandering around in the park, with nowhere to go. I couldn't just leave it alone."

"You already have Coco," Mark argued.

"But--"

"But nothing. Now, let's go home."

Youngjae knew by the tone of Mark's voice that the argument was finished, but that didn't stop him from looking back at the shelter with longing eyes.

"I'll be back for you," he whispered dramatically.

"No, you won't."

\---------- 

 

You know what I love?

I love how whenever Youngjae goes to back hug Mark, Mark just lets it happen with no resistance whatsoever.

Bonus points of feels when Mark starts smiling like a the happiest dork in the world.

\----------

 

"What kind of pizza do you guys want?" Mark hollered over his shoulder to Jackson and Bambam, already opening up his Pizza Hut app to order.

"I'm fine with whatever," Bambam said. He wasn't exactly all that interested in pizza toppings, since he looked to be very interested in whoever he was texting instead.

"Get the cheapest one on the menu, cause I'm broke, and I can't afford some fancy ass pizza with bacon and all that," Jackson replied. He was currently crouched down in front of the TV and was popping in some random horror movie that he swears wouldn't be too scary for his heart, but both Bambam and Mark knew that he'd probably be the one who wakes one of them up in the middle of the night to accompany him to the bathroom.

"I'm paying."

"I want all the toppings."

Mark rolled his eyes at Jackson's request, but he decided to just do whatever the princess wanted to avoid further complications.

With the toppings and everything else selected, Mark was then shown a box that asked for any special instructions. He never paid any mind to this box and was about to skip it, until Jackson came up behind him and put out his suggestion.

"Tell them to send their cutest delivery guy."

There really wasn't any reason to protest, so again, Mark complied to Jackson's wishes and completed his order.

With that, the three friends were set to begin their movie marathon.

Ten minutes into the movie, a knock came to Mark's apartment door. The knock itself made Jackson screech in Bambam's ear, earning him a slap to the chest. Bambam mumbled something about Jackson being the one who chose the movie and him being a scaredy cat, but it was clear to see from him clutching onto Jackson's arm that he was just as scared as him. Knowing full well that neither of them would be brave enough to get the door, Mark got up and went himself.

When Mark opened the door, wallet in hand, he was stunned, because the boy standing outside his door with an extra large pizza in his hands was absolutely adorable. With his fluffy brown hair and sheepish smile on his, what Mark would like to believe, perfect face, it was hard not to just stare at his beauty.

He would've stared for a much longer than normal time if it weren't for the cutie speaking up.

"Sorry. I'm the only one delivering."

At first, Mark was confused by what he meant, but then he remembered what he entered for special instructions, and he was straight out baffled. Did this endearing cinnamon roll really just apologize, because he thought he wasn't cute?

"Well," Mark stopped to read the boy's name tag. "Youngjae. I think Pizza Hut did more than I asked for and sent me the most adorable human being on the planet."

. . .

Youngjae returned to his workplace that night with not only a generous $10 tip, but also a phone number from a handsome dork, who had tripped when he ran to grab a pen and paper and tried to play it off by doing a push-up.

Youngjae swears that he's the one for him.

\----------

 

Mark: Hey, Youngjae, hold this.

Mark: *puts his hand on Youngjae's hand*

\----------

Mark was frustrated. He was tired. He was sleep-deprived. He was angry. He was just done.

He started the morning off being a few minutes late to work due to frustration-inducing traffic, and of course, his boss had to be a complete prick about the whole thing and lecture him in front of the whole office. Then, he was basically teased the rest of the day by his other coworkers, especially Wang Jackson, who Mark wouldn't mind running over with his car. Adding on to his humiliation, his business ideas were ruthlessly shot down, but someone pitching the same ideas were somehow praised for theirs. Talk about favoritism.

To put it simply, he had a pretty shitty day at the office.

Right now, he wanted nothing more than to go home and spend the rest of the evening in peace and possibly have a bubble bath. So, that's exactly what he did.

"This is so frustrating. I hate everything, and God knows I hate everyone," Mark said, the events of the day coming to his mind as he sat down in the tub. He knew staying angry would be meaningless, but he felt that voicing his inner thoughts would be good for him to let out some steam. What he didn't expect, however, was for his husband's head to pop up from the doorway, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes already glossed over.

"Everyone?" He asked, his voice cracking.

Mark had to stare at the younger man for a while, because honestly, in all of his misery caused by work, he had almost forgotten that he had a wonderful husband. I mean, if it weren't for Youngjae, Mark probably would've already been at the hospital half-heartedly apologizing for running over Jackson.

Mark sighed deeply, a smile coming to his face for the first time that day.

"Everyone, but you."

\----------

 

Youngjae: Did it hurt?

Mark: *rolls his eyes like the sassy queen that he is* (jk we all know that Jackson is the real sass queen)

Mark: Let me guess, when I fell from Heaven?

Youngjae: No.

Mark: What?

Youngjae: *smiling like a dork* Did it hurt when you fell for me?

Mark: *gives Youngjae the most intense, enamored look he can muster*

Mark: I wouldn't know. I'm still falling.

\----------

Youngjae: *walking around still disappointed 6 hours after visiting the aquarium*

Mark: What did you think a tiger shark was, Youngjae?

\----------

 

We all know that Mark would be the one who distracts the teacher with bullshit questions at the beginning of the class, while Youngjae is the one who violently speedwrites to finish the homework within two minutes.

Mark swears the teacher thinks he's a dumbass because of this, and Youngjae doesn't regret staying up late to play video games instead of doing the assigned homework. It's also partially Mark's fault, since he called Youngjae and talked to him for a few hours, because he claimed that he couldn't sleep. It's totally not because he just wanted to hear Youngjae's voice. Nope. Not at all.

\----------

 

Okay, but imagine Youngjae just randomly serenading Mark, because he thought their room was too quiet and Mark tells him stop, but he lowkey loves it so he just lets him sing to him while he has the softest smile on his face.

\----------

 

What if the the reason why Mark and Youngjae were so flustered when they did the Pepero kiss and the paper passing game was because they don't like kissing in public and would much rather kiss each other in private, away from the public eye?

Also, maybe Youngjae shies away from getting kissed by his members because he only wants Mark's kisses.

Just think about it.

Really think about it.

Bonus: I've noticed that Youngjae closes his eyes whenever Mark goes in for a kiss, and I find it very attractive.

\---------

 

Mark: *kisses Youngjae's neck*

Youngjae: Hyung, what are you doing?

Mark: Giving you affection.

Youngjae: Eww.

Youngjae:

Youngjae: Do it again.

\----------

 

You know what Youngjae loves?

**You know what Mark loves?**

He loves when Mark pecks his lips.

**He loves when Youngjae pecks his cheeks.**

He loves touching Mark's butt.

**He loves when Youngjae touches his butt.**

He loves Mark's hugs in general.

**He loves Youngjae's back-hugs.**

He loves when Mark lets him ride on his shoulders.

**He loves when Youngjae screeches with joy when he gives him piggy back rides.**

He loves when Mark cuddles with him, even if he has to work for it first.

**He loves when Youngjae cuddles with him, even if he was against it at first.**

He loves when Mark lets him lay down on him whenever he's feeling tired. It doesn't matter if Mark is busy or not, because he'll always let Youngjae use him as a pillow. Youngjae doesn't know why he doesn't just go to his bed. All Youngjae knows is that he loves the feeling of sleeping with Mark by his side.

**He loves when Youngjae holds his hand. Sometimes Youngjae will suddenly just grab his hand and start playing with his fingers. Other times, he'll just intertwine them and leave them like that. He doesn't know why he does it. All Mark knows is that he loves the feeling of his hand in Youngjae's.**

_He loves their little family of three._

_He loves their petty arguments, when they know that both of them are wrong._

_He loves their staring contests that they have whenever they're caught staring at the other._

_He loves when they kiss as if it'll be the last kiss they'll ever share._

_He loves their peaceful evenings that are spent holding each other and just appreciating the other for existing and falling in love with him._

_He loves their "I love you"'s._

_He loves his kisses._

_He loves his voice._

_He loves his smile._

_He loves his laugh._

_He loves his imperfections._

_He loves everything about him._

He loves Mark.

**He loves Youngjae.**


	12. Are You Jealous Yet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the members make it their mission to rile Mark up in hopes of getting him to burst in jealousy.

The members, excluding the markjae couple, were all gathered in the living room to watch a movie. The two lovebirds had decided to use their free time to go on a date, which is something they rarely did, considering their busy schedules and all that.

"You know," Jackson was leaned back against the couch, a very exaggerated thinking face taking place. "I've never seen Mark hyung jealous before."

It was after the rather boring movie when Jackson brought up the topic, and the thought itself intrigued the others, because it was the truth. None of the them had ever seen the eldest the slightest bit jealous. Whether it be that he's really good at hiding his emotions or maybe he just doesn't get jealous that easily, it didn't matter. From that point on, it was their mission to make Mark jealous at all costs.

"How are we going to do it?" Oh, Jackson was into it. He had everyone all gathered in a secretive circle and everything.

"Easy. Use Youngjae."

"Leave it up to mommy Jinyoung to know just what to do."

"Of course, Bam. I'm all of your mother, and a mother knows everything about her children."

"As much as I'd love to see Mark riled up, I think you guys shouldn't take it too far," Jaebum warned.

The boys went quiet, because he had a point. Let's not forget that Mark broke the AC in the car when Youngjae made him mad. Youngjae, his precious boyfriend, who he loved with all of his heart. Just imagine what he'd do to the rest of them if they managed to make him that angry.

"Don't worry about it, Jaebum hyung. We already have a backup plan," Bambam assured him. "We'll just blame Jackson hyung."

"Excuse you?"

"You're the one who suggested this, so you should take responsibility if it fails."

Jackson shook his head in disbelief. "Because I'm an amazing person, I'll take the blame if we get in trouble."

They all just sighed at Jackson's way of shifting the situation to make him sound good, though they couldn't complain, since Jackson would be their scapegoat. 

 

**Attempt #1**

Their mission officially began the next morning, since the five men fell asleep way before Mark and Youngjae got home that night. The first one to put their plan into action was Jackson.

"Why is our Youngjae so cute?" Jackson cooed as he pinched Youngjae's cheeks. Part of his act was for the sake of making Mark jealous, but the other part was just him naturally fawning over the younger male.

"Stop it," Youngjae said, clearly agitated. It was early in the morning, and sunshine wasn't in the mood to be dealing with any of this at the moment.

Jackson paid no mind to Youngjae's clear 'I will slap you if you touch me again' look and glanced at Mark, who was nearby, and frowned when he didn't pull a reaction out of him. He then leaned closer to Youngjae's face, much to the younger's displeasure, and planted a nice big kiss on each of his cheeks, making sure to accentuate the sound of the semi-slobbery kiss when he did it.

"Ew!" Bambam exclaimed in the background, as if he didn't let Yugyeom do the same to him. 

Youngjae squirmed and pushed Jackson's face away from him, screaming when Jackson leaned in for another kiss. Tired of his shit, Youngjae began to repeatedly slap Jackson's chest, and he kept slapping him until Jackson finally jumped off of and away from him.

"Why did you hit me?!" Jackson asked from across the room, which is where he migrated to after being assaulted with Youngjae's deadly slaps.

"Why did you kiss me?!" Youngjae shot back.

"What's wrong with kissing your cheeks? It's how I show my affection."

"Well, please stop. I already have Mark hyung for that."

"Are you saying that you prefer Mark hyung's kisses than mine?"

"Obviously."

The day started off with a grumpy Youngjae, which was quickly fixed with some food and coffee, and a very offended Jackson. 

 

**Attempt #2**

"Youngjae hyung, play with us," Bambam whined to him when they got home from practice. Youngjae sighed and followed both of them to their room to play some games. He could've said no if he wanted to, but he was too tired to refuse, so he just went with it.

It was like that throughout the duration of the day, the two maknaes begging for Youngjae's attention every chance they got.

When they were in the car, the two fought over who would sit next Youngjae, ultimately forcing Mark to travel in the back with Jackson. 

At the company, Bambam and Yugyeom would get clingy in between breaks and offer massages to Youngjae. God was working his magic when Youngjae eventually said yes to one of them. Bonus points for the pure moans of delight that came out of Youngjae as he got the massages.

It was little things like this that the two did to steal Youngjae away from Mark as much as possible, and that in itself was a success. Depriving Mark of his daily dose of Youngjae would be the perfect chance for Jinyoung's plan to succeed if they needed to turn to it as a last resort. 

Too bad for them that their plan didn't work out as an effective enough strategy to get a reaction out of Mark. And that's exactly what Jinyoung's plan was for.

 

**Attempt #3**

"Youngjae-ah, do you want to shower together?" Jinyoung had two towels on his arm and was standing in front of the open bathroom door, his baby blue button up shirt already half unbuttoned. Youngjae, who was situated on Mark's lap, got up after replying with a nonchalant, "Sure."

The others that were all scattered in the room were observing Mark for his reaction. They wanted something, anything that indicated that their oldest member was the least bit of jealous, but all they got was Mark continuing to look through his phone and looking like he didn't even care that his boyfriend was over there showering with someone else.

So, the boys decided to put plan B into action, which called for Jackson waltzing up to the bathroom door and knocking their "secret" code. Then, they waited.

"Ah! Hyung, don't touch me there!" Came Youngjae's distressed voice a moment later. The boys' ears perked up.

"You have to wash _everywhere_ , so stay still."

Another scream came from the bathroom. "Seriously! Only Mark hyung can touch me there!"

Bambam and Yugyeom looked at each other, their cheeks heating up from their conversation. "Where is the sacred area only Mark hyung can touch?"

"Yah, Park Jinyoung! Don't touch my boyfriend," Mark finally cut in. The others' eyes sparkled when they heard him finally say something about the situation, but their glory was short-lived as Mark made no movement to further stop Jinyoung's shower assault.

"No promises!"

The others stood there, mouths agape. Jinyoung was probably the trump card to their mission, but the fact that Mark hasn't reacted to any of their advances towards Youngjae was just plain frustrating. The man was literally browsing the internet, while Jinyoung was over there touching what is assumed to be Youngjae's dick and ass, and he seemed totally cool with it. 

What?

 

**Assessment**

The five members of mission: "Make Mark Jealous" were all huddled in a circle in the living room again. Even though they already knew the outcome of their mission, Jackson insisted that it was only appropriate to properly end things with the secret agent roleplay in this fashion.

"Okay, so Mark isn't the jealous type," Jackson concluded once everyone was settled in their spots.

"No shit Sherlock." Bambam's arms were crossed over his chest, his head leaning on Yugyeom's shoulder as he voiced his thoughts. 

"My feelings were already hurt today. I don't need your sarcasm to deepen the wound."

"Don't mind him, Jackson hyung. He's just disappointed that we didn't get to see jealous Mark hyung." Yugyeom was stroking Bam's hair, which was his way of calming the Thai boy down.

"I just wanted to see some drama," Jinyoung piped in.

"Glad to know how much you value our friendship." Yugyeom rolled his eyes and continued to stroke Bambam's hair.

"I'm surprised though. I really thought Mark hyung would be the type to get jealous, even if just a little bit." 

"Oh, Mark's definitely the jealous type." Jaebum, who had been quiet this whole time, actually said something for once. 

"How would you know? You didn't even help."

"Because Mark is the type of person to not say or do anything about it until later. If you listen closely, now is later."

Intrigued, the others stopped talking and listened for what the hell Jaebum was talking about.

"No way..." A wide grin was beginning to spread across Jackson's face as he stood up and went into the corridor to hear better. The others followed suit and stopped when they reached the front of Mark and Youngjae's room.

From where they were, they could hear the reiterating creak of a mattress and the arousing sounds of moaning and panting. If they were to press their ears against the wood, which is exactly what they did, they could make out the very words that confirmed Jaebum's claim that Mark was indeed the jealous type.

"Baby boy," Mark panted. "Who do you belong to?"

A dragged out moan was heard from Youngjae through the door. "Y-You and only you."

"Are you sure? Because you were awfully close with everyone else today."

The eavesdroppers were screaming without sound at this point, because one, their efforts were being acknowledged and two, they had exclusive seats to MarkJae's sexy time.

"Maybe you want their touch instead of mine."

"No! I only want your touch."

"Really?"

"Yes. No one else can touch or love me like you."

"Your're such a good boy for me. Good boys deserve rewards."

Before they could listen in on the exciting part, Jaebum started to drag everyone away from the scene. 'Why?' was written all over their faces, but they didn't fight back when they were brought back to the living room. They were just proud that they succeeded in their mission.

"Does this mean we can copy that baby meme and say "Mission Accomplished"?!" 

They all looked to Jaebum for approval, who shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?"

On the count of three, each person made a fist and copied the same face that the baby was making. 

"Mission accomplished!"


	13. Love Is Blind

"You need a boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Mark looked up from his homework and stared with a raised brow at Jackson, who was in the middle of getting ready for a date with Jinyoung.

"I said that you need someone in your life, who will cure you of your loneliness. I mean, look at you," Jackson gestured to the scattered papers in front of Mark, "You're actually doing homework. On a Saturday. Instead of going out and having fun like a normal college student."

Before he could protest, Jackson cut in again. "Homework that's due next month, because you already finished the homework that's due next week."

At this, Mark went quiet and turned his head away from Jackson. He didn't have anything to fire back, because in all honesty, it was true. Mark was lonely, and it was sort of 100 percent his own fault.

Sure, Mark was a handsome motherfucker, and sure, he had good grades and an amazing personality, but all of that doesn't seem to take away from the fact that Mark was also too shy to ask anyone out. That and the people that ask _him_ out are people that he isn't all that interested in.

"Look, I know how much of a shy hermit you are, so your awesome best friend, aka me, has taken it upon himself to set you up on a blind date."

Mark whipped his head around, his eyes wide and his face contorted into one of disbelief.

"You know how much I hate blind dates. Why would you set me up on one?"

"Because you need help with getting a date."

Mark sighed deeply. "But why does it have to be a _blind_ date?"

There was no particular reason as to why Mark absolutely hated blind dates, other than the fact that it was just an hour or so of plain awkwardness. He never knows what to talk about with someone he's never met before, nor does he have the extroverted social powers of keeping a conversation going.

For instance, what can he talk about that won't bore the person to death? What can he joke about, without accidentally offending them? What if the person isn't his type, and he's stuck with them for a couple of dreadful hours? What if the person was a fucking psycho? 

See, these are the things that Mark is afraid of and rightfully so, considering blind dates have a 50-50 chance of being successful. Poor Mark always had the displeasure of his dates going south. 

"The date is in an hour at the campus cafe, and it's a casual coffee date, so dress... casual."

"Wait, what? It's in an hour? I didn't even agree to this!"

Jackson kept his head down as he typed something on his phone, most likely texting Jinyoung. "Too late. We already set everything up. The deed is done. You're going on that date."

Mark gave Jackson yet another 'what the actual fuck' face, and he swears he almost lunged at him.

"Mark, I know about your extreme dislike of blind dates, and I only did it because I care about you. So please, just give this one a chance. I have a feeling that this one is the one."

"No," he deadpanned.

"I knew getting sappy wouldn't convince you," Jackson said, his disappointment shown in the long sigh he released.

"You're clearly bent on not going, so let's put it this way. If you don't go, you'll be standing up a poor, innocent person, who'll be left waiting and waiting, only to find out hours later that they were just stood up by a complete stranger. They'll feel terrible and start to question their life and possibly have an existential midlife crisis and--"

"FINE! I'll go. Just stop guilt-tripping me." Mark got up from his desk and went to grab his shower supplies.

"If this turns out to be another failed date, I'm putting hair dye in your shampoo and showing Jinyoung your high school mess of a haircut."

With a nervous chuckle and a wave of his hand, Jackson went ahead and started to leave.

"Oh, by the way," he reappeared in the doorway, almost forgetting to inform Mark of a valuable piece of information, "He's the cutest blond you'll ever meet, with an oddly attractive mole under his right eye. Knowing him, he's most likely going to be wearing an over-sized, black hoodie. You can't miss him."

"How is he going to recognize me?"

Jackson pursed his lips as he thought about it, almost as if it wasn't something he had thought about before. Mark rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he waited for an answer.

"Oh! He loves the color red, so just wear your red hoodie or something. I'll text him and tell him."

With one look of his watch, Jackson mumbled something about being late and left Mark to wallow in his own anxiety of going on this date.

**~~~~~**

When Mark arrived at the cafe, he wasn't surprised to see that there were already many customers filling up most of the tables. After all, the cafe was a popular hot spot for students wanting to finish up assignments in a calming place, have a nice cup of coffee, or just wanting to hang out. Mark just hoped that his date already had a table for them, because he was sure the waiter had just given out the last available table.

He scanned the cafe for anyone with blonde hair and thanked god when there was only one person with that hair color. He walked up to the stranger and hesitantly tapped his shoulder.

Now, Mark wasn't one to instantly fall for someone's looks, but when blondie turned around and looked up at him, he was suddenly a little glad that he agreed to this date. In short, blondie was cute, way too cute for Mark to believe that this date would be even close to successful.

"Are you Mark Tuna?"

Mark blinked once, then twice. "Did you mean Mark _Tuan_?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The boy got up from his chair and bowed his down in shame. "Jackson hyung told me your name was 'Mark Tuna'. It must've been a typo. I'm really sorry."

A dry laugh came out of Mark as he assured the boy that it was okay. In his mind, he was thinking about what color would look worst on Jackson's hair, because he knew that the little shit meant to get his name wrong.

Jinyoung had texted Mark blondie's name beforehand,too, and he trusted that Jinyoung gave him the right name.

"You're Lorenzo Choi, right?"

By the way blondie froze on the spot, Mark realized then and there that he couldn't trust either of the two little devils. A match made in Heaven? No, no ,no. It was a match made in Hell.

"Sorry! Jinyoung told me that your name was Lorenzo..."

Mark heard blondie sigh before putting on a blinding smile and raeching his hand out to him.

"My name is actually Youngjae Choi."

Mark looked down his outstretched hand and took it into his own. 

"Mark tuan."

Not that he was trying to be a creep or anything, but Mark may or may not have held onto his hand for a much longer than necessary time. He only acknowledged his creepiness when one of the waiters came by to take their orders, causing him to hastily detach their hands.

"I'll have an iced Americano, please," Youngjae said, going back to sit down. Mark followed suit and sat directly in front of him.

"Make that two iced Americanos, please."

Right after the waiter left, the two were left to their demises, which would've been fine if it wasn't so damn awkward. No one seemed to want to speak up, so they were both just sitting in an unsettling silence and looking everywhere but at the person across from them.

This uncomfortable atmosphere is exactly why Mark disliked going on dates with people he hasn't gotten acquainted with first. For once, he just wished that he'd have some luck with these dates, more specifically, this one.

 _'Maybe we'll get to talk as time passes.'_ Mark thought to himself. 

That didn't happen at all.

With two empty glasses of coffee on the table, the two received an achievement of exchanging less than 100 words. Sad, but also quite impressive. You'd think they would've hit it off after 20 minutes of just sitting there, but it appears that their timid natures are too strong.

Time was being wasted, and Mark couldn't take it anymore. He hated the silence. He hated the awkwardness. He hated not being able to comfortably get to know the adorable being you call a human that was sitting right in front of him. He especially needed to get something off of his chest.

"Can I be honest with you?" He asked almost desperately.

Youngjae finally looked at him directly, something Mark thought he was ready for, but he felt his mouth go dry at the mere act of him tilting his head to the side. He swears he's not in love. Yet. 

"No offense to you or anything, but the only reason I agreed to this date was because my friend forced me to," Mark sheepishly admitted. 

He was expecting some kicked puppy expression from the boy, but instead, he was surprised to see that he was laughing. 

"No way! My friend forced me, too," he managed to say in between giggles. "Something about being a lonely hermit?"

"I see we're in the same situation then," Mark mused.

"Indeed. It's not my fault that I'd rather play games than go out with people."

Mark's ears perked up. "What do you play?"

"Lately, I've really loved Overwatch."

Mark's pretty sure his heart just skipped a beat. "You play?!"

Youngjae's heart definitely skipped a few beats just then as well. His eyes even grew to the size of saucers. "You do, too?! We need to play together sometime."

It's amazing how the mention of something as simple as a video game can lead to even the shyest of people talking animatedly to each other as if they weren't sitting in deathly silence moments before.

"How about right now? We can go back to my dorm room."

Youngjae rested his chin on his hand and let a playful smile make its way onto his face. "That's not your version of Netflix and chill, is it?"

Mark felt his cheeks warm up just a little bit. It wasn't helping at all that Youngjae was staring at him, the amusement clear in his eyes.

"I promise it's not," Mark denied, his flustered state leaving as quick as it came. He gave Youngjae a smile of his own, his composure wavering once more when the blonde across from him told him he liked his smile. If only Youngjae knew how crazy his own smile made Mark feel.

Again, it's not love, but perhaps infatuation.

"Oh wait, I don't have Overwatch on my computer, and I only have one console," Mark said dejectedly.

"Don't even worry about it." Youngjae lifted his backpack, which literally came out of no where, onto the table and patted it affectionately. "I brought my laptop and my CD."

"In case the date went terrible?" Mark asked, trying to hide a laugh but failing miserably.

"You know me so well." 

They both began to laugh together, not caring if the other customers stopped and looked at them funny. Truth be told, some people only stopped to stare, because they were mesmerized by their unique laughs. 

Once the hysterics were over, they decided to pay for their drinks and relocate to Mark's place.

"After you, Mr. Choi," Mark said in a terribly fake posh voice as he held the door open for Youngjae

"How gentlemanly of you, Mr. Tuan, but you do realize that I don't know where your room is, right?" 

"What a shame. I guess we'll just have to walk around until we somehow find it. Maybe it'll refresh my memory if we stop by the convenience store to buy some snacks, but I'm not entirely sure."

Youngjae shook his head, the corners of his lips tilting upward. "You could've just said you were hungry."

Mark just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "It's more exciting this way."

**~~~~~**

A shrill scream echoed throughout the dormitory, and heavy footsteps were quickly approaching Mark and Jackson's room. Mark, knowing that scream all too well, grinned smugly, while counting down the seconds until he came.

"3... 2..."

"WHY IS MY HAIR NEON GREEN?" Jackson screamed when he burst through the door. "YOU SAID THE DATE WENT AMAZING!"

Mark spun his swivel chair around after pausing his game and looked the man in front of him from head to toe. His eyes then landed on the the damp, neon green locks that lay on his best friend's head. 

"That's for telling Youngjae that my name was 'Mark Tuna'."

Another ear-piercing scream sounded from Mark's headset.

"Just be glad your hair isn't hot pink, like Jinyoung's."

"I'M MEETING JINYOUNG'S PARENTS TODAY! WHAT THE FUCK!"

"Then I guess you can introduce yourself as Jinyoung's Cosmo."

The joyous laughter of an angel was then heard from the headset. "Good one, Mark hyung!"

"Don't encourage him, Youngjae!"

Jackson and Jinyoung may have been a match made in Heaven (or Hell, if you think like Mark), but Mark and Youngjae were a match made by God himself.


	14. I'm Not A Princess, So Don't Carry Me Like One

It is a known fact that the sunshine we all know is insecure. Whether it be his singing or his looks, he'll always have doubts about something, and one of his major insecurities, though it may not seem like it, is his weight. Despite all the times everyone told him he was average, and occasionally underweight, one look at his cute little tummy would say otherwise to him.

Now, when you're living with people who dote on you all the time and care deeply about you like GOT6, you'd know that the other members do everything to make sure Youngjae knows that he is perfect the way he is. They're all pretty extreme when it comes to doing this, but can you guess who goes just a little overboard?

"Wait, Jackson hyung. No. Don't pick me up!"

Ding! Ding! Ding!

It's the one and only, Wang Jackson.

"Don't spin me around," Youngjae demanded, his arms wrapping tightly around Jackson in an attempt to not fall.

Jackson, like everyone else, loves Youngjae and would do literally anything to make sure he feels beautiful and happy with himself. That also includes picking up his favorite otter like a princess and spinning him around to show him that he isn't heavy at all.

"Seriously, you're making me dizzy."

Youngjae's pleas to be let down were ignored as Jackson took it upon himself to spin another 10 revolutions before he realized that Youngjae looked very close to vomiting. Once down, Youngjae took some time to wait until the room stopped spinning, then he attacked the Chinese man with a barrage of slaps.

"Why do you do this everyday?!"

Jackson yelped in pain as the assault continued. "I just want you to feel beautiful!"

His eyes squeezed shut as he waited for another wave of attacks, but it never came. Instead, the younger of the two just sighed, walked away, and went back to what he was doing before he was so rudely interrupted: refilling Coco's food bowl.

Jackson frowned, for his plan didn't seem to work at all. He just wanted his best friend to feel good about himself.

At that moment, a certain American decided to walk past him. His hair was an absolute mess and his face showed all the signs of him just waking up from his afternoon nap.

"Oh, Markipooh~" Jackson called after him as he went to sit down next to the sleepyhead on the couch.

"What?" Mark's voice was still a little raspy, and he looked like he was going to fall asleep again.

"It's about Youngjae."

The mere mention of Youngjae's name was enough to jostle Mark from his daze, judging by how alert he became and how quickly he sat up.

This was going to be good.

~~~

Youngjae nearly dropped Coco's dog bowl when Mark popped up out of nowhere, the unintentional slam of the kitchen door opening so suddenly scaring the poor boy out of his wits.

"M-Mark hyung?" 

Youngjae gulped, a bubble of unease rising inside of him when he saw a mischievous glint in Mark's eyes as he inched towards him. In the background, Youngjae could see Jackson watching them with a goofy smile on his face. No matter how cute it was, it was a smile that spelled trouble.

Not wanting to stay any longer to find out what exactly was going to happen, Youngjae tried to bolt out of the room, but Mark was quicker. Before he could leave, he hooked an arm under Youngjae's legs and placed his other hand on his back.

"No, please don't pick me up!"

Just like with Jackson, his pleas were discarded as he felt himself getting slowly lifted off the ground.

"I'm really heavy! No!"

Youngjae started to panic and struggle in Mark's arms. He didn't want Mark to think that he was too heavy for him to carry. He'd rather die than suffer that kind of embarrassment.

So, what did he do?

He slapped him. Hard.

The force of the slap was enough to shock Mark into loosening his grip, and Youngjae took the chance to escape his arms and run.

"I'm sorry!"

In a flash, Youngjae was gone, leaving Mark standing alone in the kitchen, his hand rubbing his now red and throbbing cheek.

Jackson walked in soon after, his face showing just how shocked he was at Youngjae's rash action.

"That did not go as planned."

Mark wasn't mad at Youngjae for slapping him. It was kind of his fault anyway for trying to carry the boy, even though he knew how self conscious he is of his weight, which brings us to his real concern of the matter. Mark thought that Youngjae was the most perfect human in the world, the universe even. In his opinion, his weight didn't matter at all to him. He was perfect just the same. But the thing is, Youngjae can't see what Mark sees, and it's frustrating. It's frustrating, because it hurts Mark's heart, knowing that Youngjae is always fretting over something that holds little to no significance. 

Truth be told, Mark has long since made making Youngjae the happiest person in the world his life goal. So the fact that his sunshine was upset at the moment was not sitting well with him at all. He was determined to turn his frown upside down. 

~~~

"Youngjae?" Mark called softly as he knocked on the door of their shared bedroom. "Can I come in?"

After hearing some kind of muffled approval, he opened the door and stepped in to find Youngjae buried under a pile of pillows and blankets, the only sign of the actual boy being his mop of black hair peeking out from under the covers.

Mark walked over to the bed and took a seat right next to the male. His hands automatically found themselves raking through the black locks of hair, until Youngjae was finally coaxed out of his hiding spot. Though a bit hesitantly, Youngjae pushed the sheets away from his face and forced himself to look up at Mark.

He didn't say anything at first, but Youngjae reached up, his hand going to caress Mark's cheek, the guilt hitting him again as he observed the skin's slightly red tint. He gently rubbed his thumb across the skin, a frown forming as he repeated the action over and over again.

Mark simply stared at the ethereal boy beneath him, enjoying the feel of Youngjae's hand on his face and wondering to himself for the thousandth time how someone like him could ever think he was anything but perfect. He was so distracted by his face and and mesmerizing touch that he almost missed what Youngjae said.

"I'm really sorry for slapping you," he said quietly, his eyes avoiding Mark's and instead looking elsewhere. "I didn't want to be carried and possibly break your back."

It was ridiculous, really, how Youngjae's mind worked, but Mark knew better than to tread into dangerous territory with careless words. He never was good at words anyway, rather he spoke with his actions.

Mark slowly but surely peeled away each layer of pillows and blankets, until he could finally see the rest of Youngjae's previously hidden body. Then, he climbed into the empty space beside him, covered both of their bodies with the blankets, and snuggled closer to the boy, who grew warmer with each passing second. Though Mark thought it was because of the surplus amount of blankets, Youngjae would never tell him that his flushed skin was due to their close proximity. 

As if Youngjae's flustered state wasn't enough, Mark escalated their situation just a tad bit more when his hands circled around the latter's waist, ultimately pulling the two even closer than before with Youngjae pressed comfortably into Mark's chest. With how he was reacting before, one would think that Youngjae would be bat shit crazy at this point, but it's the exact opposite. 

Youngjae had this strange thing about him, where for some reason, whenever he smelled Mark's natural scent, he'd instantly feel his nerves calm down. He himself thought it was weird, but in that moment, with Mark's arms wrapped securely around him and his scent practically drowning him, Youngjae felt nothing but serenity.

All of his fears, worries, insecurities, and any negative thoughts he had disappeared right then and there. 

To put the icing on the cake, Youngjae downright melted when he felt Mark's lips press against his forehead. It was such a simple gesture, yet it had the power to do all sorts of things to Youngjae's emotions. Don't even get him started on the saccharine smile Mark gave him when he pulled away.

No words were exchanged after that, not that they were needed anyway. Instead, the two fell into deep slumbers in each other's arms, none of them leaving a single millimeter of space between them, and if you looked close enough, you would most likely spot the faintest of smiled on each of their faces.

If there's anything that should be learned from this, it's that although Youngjae may be an insecure ray of sunshine, Mark will always be there to give him the security he wants, not needs, because the universe knows that to Mark, Youngjae's already perfect just the way he is.


	15. Happy Birthday, Lorenzo Choi!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's late, but better late than never, right?

To say Youngjae was upset would be an understatement. He was already beyond the point of sadness, and now only emptiness was left.

Why is this cute little ball of sunshine so sad, you may ask. Simple: the members had forgotten his birthday.

It wasn't even like one of those cliche scenarios where the person's friends all pretend to forget about his or her birthday and then end up surprising them with a cake and presents and maybe even a little party. No. The members had truly forgotten that today was the day an actual angel was born.

In the morning, he received a call from his family wishing him a happy birthday, which he was grateful for. He even saw how Ahgases were all greeting him online, making his day even brighter. That positive energy that he had collected all dispersed throughout the day when he realized that none of his dear group mates would be wishing him a happy birthday. Hell, even his boyfriend forgot.

I mean, it's not like a birthday was that special, but it would've been nice to at least have it be acknowledged by his best friends. It didn't help either when they all had the day off, and everyone had all gone out to do their own things, excluding Youngjae, who stayed home with Coco and watched a movie and played video games by himself.

"You didn't forget, too, did you?" Youngjae asked the little Maltese at one point. He knew that she couldn't possibly know when his birthday was, but the dog had cutely rubbed against the palm of his hand, almost as if she were comforting him.

Night had fallen and the other six still weren't home, so Youngjae decided on ordering take out. It was delicious, but he still couldn't get the empty feeling out of his chest when he thought of his friends. 

_'Did they really forget?'_ He asked himself glumly. _'I guess they just don't care.'_

An hour passed when Youngjae finally heard the front door open. He rushed out of his room, only to slump his shoulders in disappointment when he realized it was only their manager. Nevertheless, he still greeted him with a strained smile. That smile turned a little more true when he was presented with his favorite cake, embellished with cute decorations and fancy writing in icing.

"Where's everyone else?" The manager asked, lighting a few candles and sticking them in the cake.

The mention of them made Youngjae's heart sink some more. It reminded him of how none of them had remembered his special day and that no one had even bothered to mark their calendars for it.

Sensing the drop in mood, the older man placed a hand on his shoulder and began singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Youngjae was touched and blew the candles out in one blow. He took one forkful of cake into his mouth, and that was it for him. He didn't have an appetite anyway.

After thanking his hyung and helping him clean up, Youngjae left and decided to turn in for the night. He had already come to the conclusion that nothing else was going to happen that day, so why even bother. He did his nightly routine and made sure Coco was comfortable right next him. Before closing his eyes, he glanced over at Mark's bed, which remained empty. And with a final sigh, he closed his eyes and let the darkness of the room lull him to sleep.

**_With the others_ **

Each member enjoyed the day out doing whatever it was they wanted to do, and they all coincidentally met up at the same restaurant for dinner. So naturally, they all sat together and were now engaged in a lively conversation about their day.

"Hey," Jackson said, gaining everyone's attention. "Does anyone else feel like they're forgetting something?"

The others didn't say anything at first, for they admitted that they, too, had been having that nagging feeling at the back of their heads. They all looked at each other, everyone trying to figure out what it was that they forgot.

"I don't know, but it feels like it was something important," Bambam thought aloud.

It wasn't until the restaurant's employees started singing the "Happy Birthday" song for one of the customers did they all widen their eyes in realization.

"Jaebum hyung, wh-what day is it?" Yugyeom asked, afraid of what the answer was surely to be. The leader took out his phone and hesitated before pressing the home screen. He gulped, and he swears his heart almost stopped when he read the date.

"The 17th of September..."

"We forgot Youngjae's birthday," Mark whispered after a few moments of silence. Jackson cursed under his breath, his head in his hands, while everyone else expressed their distress in their own ways.

"Wait! There's still some time to get him a cake!" Jinyoung was already up and standing, his coat being quickly thrown on. The others followed suit and ran after Jinyoung, leaving the waitress, who was about to take their order, confused.

"We still have 20 minutes before midnight. I know a bakery that should still be open." With the hopes of acquiring a cake for Youngjae before midnight, all of the members were racing against time. Hopefully, they weren't too late.

________________

The door to the dorm slowly creaked open, six boys entering the area one after the other. All of the lights were off, indicating that no one was up and about anymore. The boys could faintly hear the sound of their manager's snoring, causing some of them to snicker.

"Youngjae?" Jaebum whisper-shouted, going to the kitchen to help Jinyoung prepare the cake. The duo noticed the empty take out boxes that were thrown into the garbage, and they started to feel bad about almost eating without Youngjae, especially since it was his birthday.

"Hyungs, I think we're too late," Yugyeom said sadly, bringing out the cake that they assumed their manager had bought for the birthday boy. Except for a small slice and little chunk that was taken out of the side, the cake was still pretty full. And you know what, the boys bought the same exact cake.

"Maybe we can wake him up and at least sing to him?" Jinyoung suggested unsurely. Without any words, Yugyeom and Jaebum followed Jinyoung out of the kitchen and started walking to Youngjae and Mark's room, where the others had already gone.

"Youngjae, wake up," they heard Jackson saying. He was standing right beside the younger and was shaking his arm, though it didn't seem to be working.

"Any luck?"

"Well, seeing as Sleeping Beauty is still asleep, I think things aren't going so swell," Bambam replied, his eyes fixated on his sleeping hyung.

The oldest of the members decided to step in and help, but he only succeeded in waking the small puppy. He got a surprise when the dog began to bark angrily at him and attempt to seriously bite him, something Coco rarely ever did. Everyone in the room tried to desperately quiet the animal, but she kept on barking at each one of them.

"Coco, shh," Mark pleaded, while trying to get closer to her. On one hand, Coco's barking could potentially be a good way to wake up Youngjae, but on the other hand, the boys didn't want to wake up their neighbors in the process.

"Coco-yah, what's wrong...?" Youngjae's groggy voice seemed to calm the dog, and she trotted over to his side and lay back down.

"And why are you all here?" His question came off more bitter than he intended, but it was exactly what he was feeling at the moment.

"It's already," he paused to check the clock for the time, "past midnight and unlike you guys, some people like to have their beauty sleep."

Oh, sunshine is pissed alright.

"We came to sing happy birthday to you," Jaebum informed him, taking a step closer to the bed. The others followed suit and surrounded Youngjae, anxious smiles on their faces that were supposed to hide their nerves, but Youngjae could see right through them.

"Don't you think it's a little late for that?" His unusually icy tone made some of them flinch, but they stayed silent.

"My birthday was technically yesterday, so there's no need for you to try and make it up. Besides, it's obviously not even that important anyway." The words coming out of his mouth were like daggers to his members' hearts. Not only did they make Youngjae angry for not remembering his birthday, it also caused him to think that they didn't think he was of importance to them, but in reality, he was way more than that. Hell, most of them probably cared too much about Youngjae for their feelings to be considered "friendly," but don't tell Mark that.

"Youngjae-ah, we're sorry for not greeting you earlier," Jinyoung said, his sincere-looking eyes boring straight into Youngjae's. Maybe on a day when he wasn't angry at them, his eyes probably would've torn the boy's walls down, but today was not one of those days. Today, his walls were sturdier and higher than ever.

"It's whatever."

Even though he said it, it wasn't just "whatever" for Youngjae. Call him childish for getting mad over something that comes around every year, but it doesn't change the hurt that was felt in his chest.

"Won't you at least let us sing to you?"

"No." He really wanted them to sing to him, but Youngjae's a stubborn one. He felt as if saying "yes" would've meant that he lost the silent game of pride that he was playing with himself, and Youngjae doesn't like to lose.

"But--"

"I'm sorry. I'd rather just go back to sleep. So, please," he buried his body back with his warm blanket and hid his face in his pillow.

"Just leave."

Silence followed after that and slowly, each person began to exit the room, none of them forgetting to bid everyone else a "goodnight." The only ones left were Youngjae and Mark, who was now sitting on the floor beside the younger.

"Why are you still here, hyung?" Youngjae mindlessly asked after he couldn't take the intense staring that he could feel from Mark.

"I sleep here, too," was his simple response, making Youngjae groan in his mind when he realized that he managed to forget his own roommate.

"Besides, you're in my bed."

Youngjae swears his breath hitched in his throat. He removed his face from the pillow that he now recognizes as the one that Mark always used. Then, he looked at the blanket that he was oh so comfortable and felt oh so safe in, and he realized that that, too, was the elder's. His face flushed in embarrassment and his body jerked up with a start. He muttered an apology and moved to go to his own bed, but before he could leave, Mark placed his hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back under the covers.

"Stay."

It was only one simple word, yet Youngjae found himself not being able to want to leave anymore. It could also be partly due to the fact that Mark's comforting scent from his bedsheets and pillows were lulling him back to sleep in seconds. Either way, despite still being a little mad, Youngjae let Mark crawl under the sheets with him and allowed him to drape an arm around his waist, effectively pulling the other closer to his body.

The room was silent as the two of them lay there, none of them making an effort to speak up. It wasn't their usual comforting stillness that seemed to always envelope them, and Youngjae found it difficult to drift back to dreamland. When he finally managed to close his eyes and have a much needed sleep, the first rays of sunshine were already peeking through the cream colored curtains that hung over the window.

\----------

Youngjae somehow managed to sleep through morning and even a few hours past noon, and the only reason he woke up was because of the sweet scent of freshly made pancakes, a delicacy that, for whatever reason, was eaten only on special occasions or whenever Mark felt like making the foreign dish for the members.

_'Pancakes and face everyone else and possibly have the awkwardest breakfast in my life or stay in bed and starve?'_ At this point, Youngjae was leaning towards the second option, and he probably would've stuck to it if it weren't for the gentle knock on the bedroom door that startled him out of his thoughts a few seconds later.

He figured he couldn't avoid them forever, and he told whoever it was to come in.

Youngjae knew the members were all sorry, but he didn't expect them to all come barging in with confetti, a lit up birthday cake, and a full plate of steaming pancakes, topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with strawberries. The birthday song rung in his ears as they all circled around him, their voices meshing together in a perfectly jumbled mesh of out of key singing.

Youngjae was so astonished by their effort of making it up to him that he almost forgot to blow out the candles once they finished singing.

When he looked down at the cake, he noticed how the colorful icing writing had more than just a simple birthday greeting and, written with he assumed was chocolate syrup, were the words "We're Sorry."

Before he could make any comment on anything, he was engulfed in a group hug, where there was barely any space for him to move, and he kind of loved it. While still in the hug, everyone began to talk all at once, everyone's words becoming barely coherent. The only thing Youngjae was able to make out was everyone's words of apologies, and that was all he needed to hear.

"It's okay. I forgive you." Youngjae probably repeated the same words way more times than necessary when he realized that none of them were going to be letting go of him anytime soon until they were assured that they were truly forgiven.

"You guys really outdid yourselves this year," Youngjae mused when he could finally cut into the stack of pancakes that had grown warm in the passing time. 

Everyone else remained rooted their spots, watching as the little ray of sunshine munched happily on his food, excluding Yugyeom who had gone out with the promise of coming back soon. With how happy they all seemed to be in that moment, it was as if yesterday's quarrel hadn't happened at all.

Yugyeom came back minutes later as promised, and with him was a glass jar filled to the brim with tons of colored pieces of paper. Youngjae was presented this mysterious jar, which had the words "To our precious Youngjae" written across the body of the jar, and was urged to take a piece of paper out of it and read it.

"You're bootiful?" Youngjae couldn't help but let a few giggles escape his lips at the two-worded note that had a winky face at the end. The others, however, groaned, knowing all too well who had written that note.

"What?" Jackson shrugged when he heard all the displeased groans. "It's true."

Jinyoung practically pushed Jackson out of the way to get to Youngjae's side and pointed at the jar. "Whenever you're feeling sad, just read the things we wrote for you. We hate it whenever you're sad, or anyone for that matter, so we hope that these cute little notes we wrote will cheer you up when you're down."

"We wrote down like a thousand notes, so don't even worry about running out anytime soon."

Youngjae almost choked on a pancake when he heard the number from Yugyeom.

Bambam, who was now poking at the jar, rolled his eyes and pointed a finger at Mark. "Hyung probably wrote "I love you" on a hundred of those notes."

The birthday boy's face lit up and was now relishing in the flustered state Mark was in after being exposed. 

"Wait," Jaebum said. "Were we not supposed to write that?"

"I did."

"So did I."

"Me, too."

"Please tell me that not all of those papers have the same thing written on them?" Jinyoung asked worriedly. 

"Come on, Jinyoung. You know you slipped in a few "I love you's" of your own." 

They all began to tease Jinyoung when they saw how red his ears turned, and it soon turned into light-hearted bickering. 

All the while, Youngjae was sat up in bed, his eyes focused on everyone around him. Words couldn't describe how happy he felt in that moment, and he wanted nothing more than to stay in that moment forever.

"I love you guys," he said softly, his smile gentle. He doubts that anyone heard his words through all the yelling, but that's okay.


	16. My Sunshine

Red. Red everywhere. On the walls, on the floor, on their faces, on their bodies. Everything is coated with the the bright color that Youngjae claimed was his favorite. It was such a cheery color, especially when associated with the young boy, yet at the moment, just the sight of it made Mark queasy and brought bile to the back of his throat. 

And the smell... Mark was sure that the vomit he was keeping down was sure to surface if he kept breathing in the sickening scent that overpowered his nose. He wanted nothing more than to escape, but he couldn't; not while his lover was lying limp in his arms, the life slowly fading from his usually bright brown eyes, the eyes that Mark had grown to love so dearly, that were now an ugly dull brown, their brightness having been lost so long ago.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine."

The soft singing that had come from Youngjae brought all of Mark's focus to him, the image of Youngjae's bloody body bringing another surge of tears to Mark's already sore eyes.

"You're going to be okay."

Those words seemed to fall from Mark's mouth every second or so, but even he knew that Youngjae wasn't going to be okay at all. The never-ending tears mixed with snot that covered Mark's face was proof of that. He knew all too well that the one he cherished the most, the one he swore to protect, the one he would have given his own life to save, was slowly leaving this world. Nothing he could do now could save the boy in his arms, and all Mark could do was cradle him in his arms and whisper those little white lies. They were the only things, other than Youngjae's gentle singing, keeping him from completely breaking down.

**_"You make me happy when skies are gray."_ **

Be strong. Mark kept chanting that same mantra to himself as the lyrics rolled off of Youngjae's lips. 

As if sensing his wavering form, Youngjae's hand rose slowly to caress Mark's face and wipe a few tears away. Mark choked down another sob as he brought his own shaky hand on top of his to, his own hand desperately searching for any warmth left in his lover.

Oh, how cold his hand felt against his hot cheeks.

**_"You''ll never know, dear,"_ **

By now, Youngjae's weakening voice was like a thousand daggers being pierced into Mark's chest, and it was killing him to know that there was nothing he could do to save his reason to live and the only person who had ever shown him the love he never knew existed.

**_"How much I love you."_ **

But it's hard, you know? It's hard having to listen to the same song he used to sing to Youngjae whenever his own little sunshine was down in the dumps.

He didn't want to listen to the song anymore, but the feeble smile Youngjae kept on his lips as he sang to Mark entranced him to the point of forcing himself to endure it all. 

**_"Please don't take,"_ **

Youngjae's voice was barely above a whisper now, but it sounded so loud in the deafening silence around them.

Why did the universe hate him so much? 

Why did it have to take his happiness away? 

Why now, when they had been joyfully planning their future together just the day before? 

Why now?

Why _him_?

"My sunshine,"

Mark broke down then and there when the coldness of Youngjae's hand slipped away from him, and he swears, no, he knows a part of him died when the boy he had been holding ever so gently in his arms fell completely lifeless, the last word of the song barely escaping his lips.

**_"Away. . ."_ **


End file.
